Seinfeld actor Michael Richards has claimed that “anger got the best of him” when he launched his infamous “racist rant” during a performance at Los Angeles comedy club Laugh Factory nearly two decades ago.
In her first live television interview in “many, many years,” Richards, 74, sat down with Today host Hoda Kotb on Tuesday morning and admitted she decided to “step away from show business” after her tirade. in 2006, in which he used racist insults. insults those who interrupt the audience.
When Kotb, 59, asked the Kramer star how he’s changed since that November night in 2006, Richards responded, “Oh, the difference… (I’m) probably more self-aware.” Anger, looking at it very closely, is something that is always with us, certainly with me.
‘(It’s) not as horrible as it was 18 years ago, anger took over and I canceled. Take an exodus, get away from show business and see what the hell is going on inside of me for being so despicable that night and losing my cool and hurting people.
When asked if he had made “amends” since then, Richards replied: “I think so.” I’ll certainly get to a place where I could forgive myself because I have to move on to be honest about it,’ before talking about his prostate cancer diagnosis in 2018.
Seinfeld actor Michael Richards has claimed that “anger got the best of him” when he launched his infamous “racist rant” in 2006.
The 74-year-old actor gave his first TV interview in ‘many years’ and spoke to Today’s Hoda Kotb
“I thought I was going to go, actually, I had already given in,” Richards said candidly. “Then I discovered that if we acted fast enough, we could attack the cancer, and I had a great surgeon at Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles.
‘Oh, I made it, you know, I got over it. And that certainly motivated me to read the book because I did a big review of my life,” she added, referring to his new memoir Entrances and Exits.
When Kotb asked what he wanted people to learn about him when they read the book, Richards responded, “Oh, that I’m human.” There is a good, a bad and an ugly running through all of these things.
‘The entrances and exits, what I enter, what I leave, always so continuous, a coming and going. And discovering myself along the way is really a pleasure, although it is hard work.’
In a recent interview with People, Richards said of the incident: “My anger was all over the place and it came out hard and fast.” Anger is a great force. But it happened. Instead of running away from it, I dove into the deep end and tried to learn from it. It has not been easy.’
The three-time Emmy winner continued: “Crisis managers wanted me to do damage control. But as far as I was concerned, the damage was within me.’
Richards said he believes his anger stems from his own insecurities and fears of not being accepted.
The father-of-two, who is married to Beth Skipp, insisted he is “not racist” and has “nothing against black people.”
His 2006 tirade saw him hurl racist insults at hecklers in the audience at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles.
During a live performance at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood in November 2006, Richards hurled racist insults at hecklers.
The actor is best known for playing Kramer on the hit television comedy Seinfeld alongside Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander (right).
‘The man who told me I wasn’t funny had just said what I had been telling myself for a while. I felt slighted. He wanted to sacrifice him,’ he explained.
In November 2006, shocking footage emerged of Richards repeatedly calling an audience member, who was interrupting his performance, a racial slur.
‘Throw his ass… He’s a *****! Look, there’s a *****!’ Richards can be heard saying in the video.
During his meltdown, Richards repeatedly called black audience members ‘n*****’ while yelling, ‘Fifty years ago we would have you face down with a fucking fork up your ass.’
After the shocking incident, he turned to David Letterman to express his regret, stating, “I’m really devastated by this and I’m very, very sorry.” I’m not racist, that’s what’s crazy about this. I said some pretty nasty things to some African Americans, a lot of swear words.
He continued: ‘You know, I’m an artist… I go further; I work very uncontrollably on stage. I do a lot of free association, it’s spontaneous, I get into character.’