# Michael Richards goes on beserk racist rant during nightclub act. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 20, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170 "2006-11-20T16:44:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/1 "2006-11-20T16:44:18Z")
Kramer apparently does not respond well to [heckling.](http://www.tmz.com/2006/11/20/kramers-racist-tirade-caught-on-tape/) > [@](#): > > The camera started rolling just as Richards began his attack, screaming at one of the men, “Fifty years ago we’d have you upside down with a f\*\*\*ing fork up your ass.” > > Richards continued, “You can talk, you can talk, you’re brave now motherf\*\*ker. Throw his ass out. He’s a nigger! He’s a nigger! He’s a nigger! A nigger, look, there’s a nigger!” > > The crowd is visibly and audibly confused and upset. Richards responds by saying, “They’re going to arrest me for calling a black man a nigger.” The full video is available at the above linked page. There’s more. How long before Kramer announces that he’s an alcoholic and checks himself into rehab? ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/2 "2006-11-20T16:49:43Z")
I would have thought that a professional comic would know how to handle heckling better than to stoop to 1963-style Klansmanish ugliness. Michael Richards, best known as Kramer from _Seinfield_, was recently caught on tape pulling a Mel Gibson. Except at least in Mel’s case, he could blame it on the alchohol. Here’s a link to the video: [http://us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mo...&pmmsid=1772645](http://us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mo...&pmmsid=1772645). And here’s the youtube clip of CNN’s report on this: [http://youtube.com/watch?v=tEcz9T3MuL4](http://youtube.com/watch?v=tEcz9T3MuL4) WTF? The sad thing is that his comments had a contagious effect in that room. Audience members started returning his hateful spewings with hateful spewings of their own. It was like something out of _Do the Right Thing_. Oy. Makes me head hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/3 "2006-11-20T16:50:20Z")
_Three_ threads now? Who’s starting the MPSIMS one? ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/4 "2006-11-20T16:50:44Z")
Damn you, Dio. You beat me to the punch. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/5 "2006-11-20T16:52:07Z")
I did a thorough search before I made this thread, I _swear_. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/6 "2006-11-20T16:56:02Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Kramer apparently does not respond well to [heckling.](http://www.tmz.com/2006/11/20/kramers-racist-tirade-caught-on-tape/) The full video is available at the above linked page. There’s more. How long before Kramer announces that he’s an alcoholic and checks himself into rehab? [/QUOTE] I watched the video. He surely didn’t seem drunk… he seemed angry at the heckling, and went for the cheapest, ugliest, most hateful shot he could go for. When he realized what he had done, he tried to spin it like he was doing some sort of social experiment… “You see, there are still these words, these words.” What I found the most saddening was that the voice of the man he insulted seemed more bewildered and hurt than furiously angry. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/7 "2006-11-20T16:59:03Z")
All I know of Richards is his stuff from Seinfeld and the movie UHF. Is he normally a shock style comedian? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/8 "2006-11-20T17:01:37Z")
Richards has always sort of come off as a putz. Aside from his now-infamous meltdown with Andy Kaufman, I also remember an interview with him during the height of his _Seinfeld_ powers. The interviewer made some reference to Richards as a comedian. Richards bristled, stopped the interviewer, and said that he wasn’t a comedian, but an actor who happens to do comedy. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/9 "2006-11-20T17:01:43Z")
Somebody should sue Kramerica Corporation. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/10 "2006-11-20T17:01:53Z")
The two threads on this topic have been merged. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/11 "2006-11-20T17:05:25Z")
Is it possible that this was part of his act, in that he was going for the “Andy Kaufmann”, or Borat effect? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/12 "2006-11-20T17:06:35Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Richards has always sort of come off as a putz. Aside from his now-infamous meltdown with Andy Kaufman, I also remember an interview with him during the height of his _Seinfeld_ powers. The interviewer made some reference to Richards as a comedian. Richards bristled, stopped the interviewer, and said that he wasn’t a comedian, but an actor who happens to do comedy. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Wait a minute…he had a meltdown with Andy Kaufman? What was that all about? I can’t tell you how disappointed I am that this happened. He was my favorite Seinfeld character. This has ruined the reruns forevah. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/13 "2006-11-20T17:14:14Z")
Richards was just trying out his new George Allen impression. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/14 "2006-11-20T17:16:03Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Wait a minute…he had a meltdown with Andy Kaufman? What was that all about? [/QUOTE] The only thing that comes to mind is during a sketch in a restaurant set on an episode of _Friday_, Kaufman went off script, throwing all the members of the cast into confusion. Richards went off stage, came back with a copy of the script and tossed it on the table in front of Kaufman. If that’s the incident being referenced, I don’t see that as an indication that Richards has a tendency to lose his cool. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/15 "2006-11-20T17:32:33Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] The only thing that comes to mind is during a sketch in a restaurant set on an episode of _Friday_, Kaufman went off script, throwing all the members of the cast into confusion. Richards went off stage, came back with a copy of the script and tossed it on the table in front of Kaufman. If that’s the incident being referenced, I don’t see that as an indication that Richards has a tendency to lose his cool. [/QUOTE] That’s the one I had in mind. However, I misstated myself. I was thinking of Kaufman when I used the term “meltdown.” For me, though, it was clear that Richards was being kind of a pecker and seemed to be taking himself awfully seriously. I just watched archival footage of the event and my old impression was reconfirmed. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/16 "2006-11-20T17:42:33Z")
What’s even more depressing is that a good portion of the comments on the TMZ are defending Richards, with the usual “how come they get to call us honky” lines. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/17 "2006-11-20T18:05:45Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] That’s the one I had in mind. However, I misstated myself. I was thinking of Kaufman when I used the term “meltdown.” For me, though, it was clear that Richards was being kind of a pecker and seemed to be taking himself awfully seriously. I just watched archival footage of the event and my old impression was reconfirmed. [/QUOTE] According to the Wikipedia entry for _Fridays_, Richards was in on Kaufman’s little joke. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/18 "2006-11-20T18:12:17Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] What’s even more depressing is that a good portion of the comments on the TMZ are defending Richards, with the usual “how come they get to call us honky” lines. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] You ain’t lying. I’m sure Chris Rock is pleased to know that people out there believe he could have pulled this shit and not faced any criticism. Apparently Richard’s defenders have a hard time telling the difference between a comedy routine and fighting words. Jokes are one thing. Insults are another. As far as I know, Chris Rock has never intentionally insulted someone in the audience using hate speech. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/19 "2006-11-20T18:14:19Z")
The first link and you with the face’s first link keep crashing my browser (Firefox 2.0) after I get an “illegal function” error message. The youtube link works, but it only has a report, not the video itself. Anyone else having this problem or have another source for the actual video? Or should I _shudder_ use IE? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170/20 "2006-11-20T18:32:15Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Or should I _shudder_ use IE? [/QUOTE] FYI, here’s a handy firefox extension: IE TAB [https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1419/](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1419/) - view a page in Firefox, but rendered with the IE engine. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-richards-goes-on-beserk-racist-rant-during-nightclub-act/381170.md?page=2)