Seinfeld actor Michael Richards has claimed that ‘rage gripped him’ when he delivered his infamous ‘racist rant’ during a stand-up performance at the Laugh Factory comedy club in Los Angeles almost two decades ago.
In his first live television interview in “many, many years,” Richards, 74, spoke to Today host Hoda Kotb on Tuesday morning and admitted he decided to “get away from show business” after his 2006 tirade in which he used racist statements did. insults the loud people in the audience.
When Kotb, 59, asked the Kramer star how he has changed since that night in November 2006, Richards replied, “Oh, the difference… [I’m] probably more aware of myself. Anger, if you look at it very closely, it is something that is always with us, especially with me.
‘[It’s] not as terrible as it was 18 years ago, the anger had me in its grip and I locked myself out. Take an exodus, get out of show business and see what the hell is going on inside me that I was so despicable that night and lost my cool and hurt people.”
When asked if he has “made amends” since then, Richards replied: “I think so. I’m definitely getting to a point where I could forgive myself because I need to move on to be honest about that,” before opening up about his 2018 prostate cancer diagnosis.
Seinfeld actor Michael Richards has claimed that ‘rage gripped him’ as he continued his infamous ‘racist rant’ in 2006
The 74-year-old actor gave his first television interview in “many years” and spoke with Today’s Hoda Kotb
“I thought I was going to go, really, I had given in to that,” Richards said candidly. “Then I found out that if we acted fast enough, we could tackle the cancer, and I had a great surgeon at Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles.
“Oh my, I made it, you know, I beat it. And that definitely motivated me to start the book, because I had a big review of my life,” he added, referring to his new memoir Entrances and Exits.
When Kotb asked him what he wants people to learn about him when they read the book, Richards replied, “Oh, that I’m human. There is a good, a bad and an ugly running through all of these things.
‘The entrances and exits, where I come in, where I come out, always going on like this, one coming and one going. And discovering myself along the way, that’s a lot of fun, but it’s hard work.’
In a recent interview with People, Richards said of the incident, “My anger was everywhere and came through hard and fast. Anger is quite a force. But it happened. Instead of running from it, I dove in and tried to learn from it. It hasn’t 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 stemmed from his own insecurities and fear 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’.
During his 2006 rant, he hurled racial slurs at the rowdy crowd at the Laugh Factory in LA.
During a stand-up performance at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood in November 2006, Richards hurled racial slurs at hecklers
The actor is best known for his role as Kramer in the hit TV sitcom Seinfeld alongside Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander (right)
“The guy who told me I wasn’t funny had just said what I’d been telling myself for a while. I felt abandoned. I wanted to put him down,” he explained.
In November 2006, shocking footage emerged of Richards repeatedly calling an audience member who interrupted his act a racial slur.
‘Throw his ass out…He’s a *****! Look, there’s a*****!’ You can hear Richards say in the video.
During his meltdown, Richards repeatedly referred to black audience members as “n******” while shouting, “Fifty years ago we would have had you upside down with a fucking fork up your ass.”
After the shocking incident, he spoke to David Letterman to express his regret, saying: ‘I’m really devastated by this and I’m very sorry. I’m not a racist, that’s the crazy thing about this. “I’ve said some pretty nasty things to some African Americans, a lot of nonsense.”
He continued, “You know, I’m an artist…I push the boundaries; I work very uncontrollably on stage. I do a lot of free association, it’s spontaneous, I focus on character.’
It is unclear whether Richards has plans to return to acting. He last appeared on television 10 years ago when he starred alongside Kirstie Alley in 12 episodes of the sitcom Kirstie.
In 2019, he played the role of Daddy Hogwood in the comedy Faith, Hope & Love, which also starred Peta Murgatroyd and Robert Krantz.
