When Celebrities Attack

JERRY: "What happened to your mental alarm?"

KRAMER: "I guess I hit the snooze."



Another celebrity has run amok.

The latest is Michael Richards of Seinfeld fame. He went into a racist rant at a comedy club, the Laugh Factory, last Friday.

You've probably already seen this, but here's the video in the unlikely event that you haven't.

There's no way around it, no room for misinterpretation -- it's a horrible display.

As soon as Drudge posted the video, the story exploded.

This was NOT a show about nothing.

There was Richards, not as the odd yet endearing Kramer from Seinfeld; he was a raving, racial epithet-spewing maniac verbally assaulting some African-American hecklers.

Richards completely lost it.

And what follows when a celebrity behaving badly becomes a national story?

The obligatory apology of course, the Act of Contrition.

Richards moved at lightning speed.

Although the incident occurred on Friday, it didn't get widespread attention until Monday.

By Monday night, he was already apologizing on network TV.

Jerry Seinfeld was scheduled as guest on David Letterman, to hawk the release of Seinfeld - Season 7 on DVD.

He's doing publicity for the new release, and Richards is underfire for his inexcusable tirade. What awful timing for Jerry Seinfeld! What great timing for Letterman!

Drudge was promoting Richards' appearance earlier in the evening. I'm sure that gave Letterman quite a ratings boost. And it's Sweeps!!!

I'm not at all saying that it was a ratings ploy on Letterman's part. I think he did it as a favor to Seinfeld.

Season 7 is released today and a major character in the show is revealed as an out of control racist. That's not good for sales.

So, via satellite from LA, Richards apologized during Seinfeld's segment on Letterman.

It was the first matter of business. They got right to discussing the incident immediately after Seinfeld was introduced. Then, they quickly cut to Richards.

Read the AP's account of his mea culpa here.

"I'm not a racist. That's what's so insane about this," Richards said, his tone becoming angry and frustrated as he defended himself.

I didn't think he became angry. He looked stunned to me, a deer in the headlights.

I think he was trying to be forceful and sincere.

However, it's hard to say you're not a racist when there's video of you repeatedly shouting the N-word.

Richards descried himself as going into "a rage" over the two audience members who interrupted his act Friday at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood. Richards responded to the black hecklers with repeated use of the "n word" and profanities.

Unlike Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic rant while under the influence of alcohol, Richards didn't blame drugs or any mood-altering substance for his actions.

He did say that he needed to understand the rage.

At times as he spoke, he became rather incoherent, talking about Katrina and where we are as a nation in terms of race relations. That was a bit off topic. Actually, it was irrelevant. Richards was supposed to be apologizing for his horrible behavior, not analyzing the American psyche.

...Richards deserved the chance to apologize, Seinfeld said on the "Late Show." Seinfeld said, "He's someone that I love, and I know how shattered he is about" the incident.

I think Seinfeld struck the right balance. He was loyal to a dear friend, yet he in no way excused or condoned his racist remarks.

If I wanted to be cynical, I could say Seinfeld was trying to do damage control so sales of Season 7 wouldn't suffer. Perhaps Seinfeld feared that his classic show would be tarnished forever unless he worked quickly to help save Richards.

Or worse yet, if I wanted to be really cynical, I might say that the entire thing was staged. Maybe it was all a stunt, in the vein of "no publicity is bad publicity."

I don't want to be cynical, so I will assume that Seinfeld, as well as Richards, were being sincere. It certainly seems to have been a genuine meltdown by Richards, and the reactions and apologies seem legitimate.

At one point, however, Richards grew flustered and expressed second thoughts about appearing on the "Late Show" when his use of the term "Afro-American" proved funny to some audience members.

"I'm hearing your audience laugh, and I'm not even sure that this is where I should be addressing the situation," he said in a tape of his appearance shown by CBS to reporters.

This is a little misleading.

Some in the audience laughed initially when Richards was speaking. They clearly thought it was a comedy bit.

Seinfeld admonished them, telling them not to laugh.

It wasn't the term "Afro-American" that elicited the chuckles.

I also wouldn't say Richards was flustered.

He looked to be in shock, as though he couldn't believe that he found himself in this situation.

There's no denying that he did go off the deep end when he reacted to the hecklers.

Should he be forgiven?

I think when someone sincerely apologizes (not the non-apology apology sort, but a real one), that individual deserves another chance.

Richards can't take back his words, but he can and did express remorse. That doesn't entirely clear him. I do think that he has some serious anger management issues and would benefit from sensitivity training.

Does this take the shine off Seinfeld as one of TV's funniest sitcoms?

I don't think so. Richards isn't Kramer. Kramer is a character. When actors are doing their jobs well, what counts is the performance, not the person behind it.

Will people boycott Seinfeld because of the Richards episode?

Some will and that's their choice. While I think that's a reasonable reaction, I don't think that continuing to watch the show means that one condones racism.

I suspect that with time the Laugh Factory episode will be forgotten and Richards eventually will redeem himself.

That's the way this sort of thing usually works.