Hollywood: Finally, after years of disappearance, comedian Michael Richards makes a rare appearance on the red carpet with his co-star Jerry Seinfeld.
It’s really nostalgic to see both of these actors together. While Jerry is still relevant in the entertainment industry, his co-star Michael Richards somehow lost touch after his infamous 2006 rant.
But what really happened back in 2006?
Key Takeaways
- Michael Richards made a racial comment toward the Afro-American community during his stand-up show.
- His racial comments made fans disgusted, and they blacklisted him.
- Later in Letterman’s show, Michael Richards asked for an apology from everyone.
In 2006, Michael really had the time of his life. After playing a role in one of the most influential shows, Seinfield, he was finally finding his footing as a stand-up comedian.
But who knew his career would go downhill by the year’s end?
In November 2006, when Richards was performing at Laugh Factory in West Hollywood, he was having the time of his life.
All of a sudden, a group of Afro-Americans started playfully teasing him.
After some constant bickering, the comedian lost control while still on the stage.
The comedian stooped so low that he started spewing some nasty racial comments. During the heat of the moment, he didn’t even consider the dark past of Afro-Americans.
Unfortunately, the whole incident was caught on camera, and it quickly made headlines.
Warning: The video below contains some of the worst racist comments.
Some of the audience members were instantly enraged, while others were confused if it was just another skit or if he had broken every moral line.
Whatever the case, one thing was certain: every fan in the crowd was highly disgusted after hearing it.
How Did Fans Blacklist Michael Richards?
The condition that was already bad became worse by November 26.
Another piece of news went viral when one of the fans attending his previous show revealed that he had passed the racist comments to Jews as well.
The exact phrase he used was,
And his racial comments towards the African-American community only added fuel to the already burning fire.
But even after causing so much trouble, non of the media houses blacklisted him. Instead, it was his fans who started to blacklist him.
The enraged fans stopped going to the shows hosted by the comedian. Tickets to his future shows were getting canceled as well.
None of the fans were in the mood to forgive the actor soon.
In fact, he himself was disgusted by the comments he made.
Michael Richards Apologized For His Comments
After making racial remarks, Michael tried to mend the situation and even sought help from his former co-star, Jerry Seinfeld.
Back when Jerry appeared on the show Late Night With David Letterman, Michael made an appearance to offer his apology to the public.
During the show, Michael Richards said,
However, the fans were in no mood to forgive the actor; in fact, some of them even laughed at him while he delivered his speech.
But later, we learned that Richards was really disgusted by the comments he made that night.
Seven years after the crazy incident, he revealed in Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee that he still carried all those weights around his shoulders.
He told the show host and his former co-star Jerry Seinfeld that he had lost interest in comedy after that show.
After hearing that, Jerry reminded his friend Michael that they must work selflessly.
[…] was recorded screaming the N-word and other racial insults to a group of hecklers while he was performing stand-up at the Laugh […]