Watch Michael Richards' appearance on Letterman

truth is jw, it doesn't matter. American mainstream does not care about that. They care about what he did, which is too bad, but cant be helped

if he had been an afro-american and said the same thing this wouldn't have been a story...first they were called niggers, then as time went by they were called negroes, then blacks, then colored, then afro americans, and now african-american...what will they like to be called in 5 yrs? and why is it ok for them to call themselves niggers but not other races? any why hasn't anyone mentioned about them calling Richards a "cracker"...why is it ok for them to insult whites but everyone has a fir when it's reversed?

"See, I do listen to people"

I never doubted it for a moment, Adam!

I'm all for free speech, but if you're a public figure and your first response when heckled by a black audience member is to come out with "I miss the days when I could have just had you lynched", you don't get to be a public figure anymore. His career should be over right about now, and good riddance.

Disgusting.

What scared me about his rant wasn't what he said, but how he said it. What bothered me about his "apology" was what he said AND how he said it.

If you were going on national TV to "save your reputation," wouldn't you *prepare* a statement and avoid using terms like "Afro-Americans" and "blacks?" I think Richards made a bad situation worse.

Honestly, the whole thing looks and smells like "Man On The Moon" to me. If it's a hoax, it's unfortunate that Seinfeld and Letterman were dragged into it.

Richards' career is over, unless he wants to start wrestling women.

I do think he lost his control, and what the other people were saying didnt help. I dont think hes a stone-cold racist, yes, he might have a slight problem, but thats his problem. as long as he buries those feelings, there should be no problem. hes old, he comes from a different time. plus, when the people were saying he was washed up, and the only thing he ever did was seinfeld, no movies etc, theyre wrong. I saw him in an old movie (war i think). I'm not racist in the least and do not discriminate, but i do think Richards should be forgiven. Hell, if the jewish 'community' can forgive Mel gibson (which they sooooo shouldnt have), then give michael another chance at least. He wasn't drunk, he was forced over the edge by fans and lost control of himself. Im not saying it wasnt wrong, but still, forgive him. and if he is, truly racist, if he can hide it back (like a loT of famous people probably do *COUGHmelCOUGH*), then there shouldnt be a problem. Hell, its not like he goes to nazi rallies that we know of. and maybe hes bipolar....insanely unlikely, but a good excuse XD

Somewhere, Andy Kaufman is laughing.

I agree with Karen. It is one thing if it was blurted out in anger, wrong, but people say stupid things when they lose control, but he didn't stop there. He said it like he had Tourette's and then brought up the whole stringing them up bit, evoking pre civil rights memories.

4. Karen,

I agree. I was saying Richards came up with the worst possible thing he could have said to those people, which was his racist tirade. The tirade is still racist, but after reading your comment and getting a very similar comment from a flesh and blood friend of mine, I realized I might not have made that point as obvious as I meant to, hence this addition to the post:

"My assessment of the situation is not meant as a defense of what Richards said (or rather screamed) at the comedy club, which was both racist and unsettling vitriolic."

See, I do listen to people.

If he had simply dropped the N-bomb on them, then I might agree with you, Adam. It's that initial line--his first response to the hecklers, before he'd even entered the rage spiral--that was just so horrific. And I find it difficult to believe that someone would pull out an image like that (I'm referring to the line that includes forks and upside down people) at random.

Added to that the utterly tone-deaf use of "Afro-Americans" in his Letterman apologia...well, sorry. I'm white, I'm middle-class, and I think the guy's a stone racist. He's using rage the same way Gibson used alcohol--as if these are entities that cause people to say things they don't mean. In reality, people tend to say exactly what they mean when the standard veneer of civilization is peeled back by anger or drunkenness.