"Kramer's" Racist Tirade -- Caught on Tape

[Esau.]

People at work may want to turn down the volume abit. Lots of swearing.

Michael Richards exploded in anger as he performed at a famous L.A. comedy club last Friday, hurling racial epithets that left the crowd gasping, and TMZ has obtained exclusive video of the ugly incident.

Richards, who played the wacky Cosmo Kramer on the hit TV show "Seinfeld," appeared onstage at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood. It appears two guys, both African-American, were in the cheap seats playfully heckling Richards when suddenly, the comedian lost it.

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."

One of the men who was the object of Richard's tirade was outraged, shouting back "That''s un-f***ing called for, ain't necessary."

After the three minute tirade, it appears the majority of the audience members got up and left in disgust.

Attempts to reach Richard's reps were unsuccessful.

http://www.tmz.com/2006/11/20/kramers-racist-tirade-caught-on-tape/

[ollie]

That's gold Jerry.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Who does he think he is, Lenny Bruce?

[StoneMtn]

No. Mel Gibson.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

!

[bradm]

Who does he think he is, Lenny Bruce?

I was gonna suggest he thought he was Mel Gibson (or was paid by Mel Gibson, to take some of the heat off of him). Did Lenny Bruce ever hurl insults at the audience that way? (I could believe Bruce would have done a bit about the use of "N"-word, but I don't think he would have used it against anybody.)

Aloha,

Brad

[fluffhead77]

wow.

what an ass.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Who does he think he is' date=' Lenny Bruce?

[/quote']

I was gonna suggest he thought he was Mel Gibson (or was paid by Mel Gibson, to take some of the heat off of him). Did Lenny Bruce ever hurl insults at the audience that way? (I could believe Bruce would have done a bit about the use of "N"-word, but I don't think he would have used it against anybody.)

Aloha,

Brad

Wow, don't tell me I looked something up on wikipedia faster than you!

Are there any niggers here tonight? Could you turn on the house lights, please, and could the waiters and waitresses just stop serving, just for a second? And turn off this spot. Now what did he say? "Are there any niggers here tonight?" I know there's one nigger, because I see him back there working. Let's see, there's two niggers. And between those two niggers sits a kike. And there's another kike— that's two kikes and three niggers. And there's a spic. Right? Hmm? There's another spic. Ooh, there's a wop; there's a polack; and, oh, a couple of greaseballs. And there's three lace-curtain Irish micks. And there's one, hip, thick, hunky, funky, boogie. Boogie boogie. Mm-hmm. I got three kikes here, do I hear five kikes? I got five kikes, do I hear six spics, I got six spics, do I hear seven niggers? I got seven niggers. Sold American. I pass with seven niggers, six spics, five micks, four kikes, three guineas, and one wop. Well, I was just trying to make a point, and that is that it's the suppression of the word that gives it the power, the violence, the viciousness. Dig: if President Kennedy would just go on television, and say, "I would like to introduce you to all the niggers in my cabinet," and if he'd just say "nigger nigger nigger nigger nigger" to every nigger he saw, "boogie boogie boogie boogie boogie," "nigger nigger nigger nigger nigger" 'til nigger didn't mean anything anymore, then you could never make some six-year-old black kid cry because somebody called him a nigger at school.

(That was actually from the LB play/screenplay, but it's virtually identical to the original.)

(On a side note, apparently Jerry Garcia worked for a spell transcribing and proofreading Bruce's court trials.)

Edited November 20, 2006 by Guest
Clarification and random extension

[Tenenbaum]

Kramer to Obanyan, "that nigger bit killed"

[timouse]

Who does he think he is' date=' Lenny Bruce?

[/quote']

I was gonna suggest he thought he was Mel Gibson (or was paid by Mel Gibson, to take some of the heat off of him). Did Lenny Bruce ever hurl insults at the audience that way? (I could believe Bruce would have done a bit about the use of "N"-word, but I don't think he would have used it against anybody.)

Aloha,

Brad

Wow, don't tell me I looked something up on wikipedia faster than you!

Are there any niggers here tonight? Could you turn on the house lights, please, and could the waiters and waitresses just stop serving, just for a second? And turn off this spot. Now what did he say? "Are there any niggers here tonight?" I know there's one nigger, because I see him back there working. Let's see, there's two niggers. And between those two niggers sits a kike. And there's another kike— that's two kikes and three niggers. And there's a spic. Right? Hmm? There's another spic. Ooh, there's a wop; there's a polack; and, oh, a couple of greaseballs. And there's three lace-curtain Irish micks. And there's one, hip, thick, hunky, funky, boogie. Boogie boogie. Mm-hmm. I got three kikes here, do I hear five kikes? I got five kikes, do I hear six spics, I got six spics, do I hear seven niggers? I got seven niggers. Sold American. I pass with seven niggers, six spics, five micks, four kikes, three guineas, and one wop. Well, I was just trying to make a point, and that is that it's the suppression of the word that gives it the power, the violence, the viciousness. Dig: if President Kennedy would just go on television, and say, "I would like to introduce you to all the niggers in my cabinet," and if he'd just say "nigger nigger nigger nigger nigger" to every nigger he saw, "boogie boogie boogie boogie boogie," "nigger nigger nigger nigger nigger" 'til nigger didn't mean anything anymore, then you could never make some six-year-old black kid cry because somebody called him a nigger at school.

(That was actually from the LB play/screenplay, but it's virtually identical to the original.)

(On a side note, apparently Jerry Garcia worked for a spell transcribing and proofreading Bruce's court trials.)

in the film, lenny's (dustin hoffmann's) racist riff ends with "...and one big old uncle tom nigger down front."

he then goes on to explain that use of the word robs it of its' power, and finally gets the crowd laughing...when the big dude down front laughs, lenny calls attention to him, saying "sir, i'm very glad you're laughing. for a moment i thought you were going to come up here and kick my ass."

RIP lenny bruce.

[scottieking]

Are we sure isn't some Andy Kaufmanesque stunt?

[Tenenbaum]

so Kramer's a racist... not that there's anything wrong with that...

[MarcO]

sorry, the Mel Gibson comparison doesn't stick.

This was a man on a stage at a comedy club being heckled. Not a man being arrested for drunk driving.

[StoneMtn]

Oh ya. I forgot that, when being heckled, it is absolutely appropriate to denigrate the race of those doing the heckling.

My mistake.

[Lazlo]

Who needs to be heckled to denigrate a race? Or a gender, or a culture, or a religion, or just for being ugly for that matter.

[phishtaper]

personally, I am offended and disgusted. although, if pressed, I would have to admit that I have not actually seen the performance.

[MarcO]

Oh ya. I forgot that, when being heckled, it is absolutely appropriate to denigrate the race of those doing the heckling.

My mistake.

I'm not going to say I'm too impressed with that footage but neither would I say that a comedy club is the best venue to measure what is "appropriate" or not. If someone is going to dish it out, they'd best be prepared to take it. And who is going to kid themselves into thinking a performance at a comedy club should reflect societal values? If they did, there's be no need for a comedy club.

[Lazlo]

And who is going to kid themselves into thinking a performance at a comedy club should reflect societal values?

The contents of your pants reflect societal values.

Sorry, I must be ovulating again. That's the third time today.

[SaggyBalls]

Maybe they were acting like niggers.

whether they'd be black or white or yellow or plaid, I don't think that matters anymore.

[StoneMtn]

I completely disagree. Sure, we are all aware that the word "nigger" originally referred to an ignorant person.

In this case, that is clearly not what Michael Richards referred to. He was obviously referring to black Americans, and in particular seemed to long for the old days when they were property. It seems pretty obvious from the statement:

"Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f***ing fork up your ass."

You can try to pretend it was meant as humour, or you can try to pretend he would have said the same thing to a rude table full of white Protestants. I don't believe for a second that is the case.

[bouche]

Apparently he's on Letterman via satellite tonight apologizing. Seinfeld is one of the guests so this should be an interesting interview.

PVR'd!

[Lazlo]

No comment

[SaggyBalls]

Definitely out of line, but for a guy like that to FLIP like that there must be something behind the story.

and THAT i would like to know.

[ollie]

There's a preview clip on cbs.com. Not too sure about the last part of his remarks. Will be interesting to see the whole thing.

Preview Clip

[hamilton]

I completely disagree. Sure, we are all aware that the word "nigger" originally referred to an ignorant person.

It did? I'm pretty sure it's a bastardization of "negro" which is just the Spanish word for black.