‘Seinfeld’ costar hurls slurs at show
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Michael Richards stunned a comedy club audience, shouting racial epithets at people who heckled him during a stand-up routine.
The 57-year-old actor-comedian, best known for playing Jerry Seinfeld’s eccentric neighbor Kramer on the hit TV show “Seinfeld,” was performing at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood on Friday night when he went into the verbal rampage.
A video posted on TMZ.com shows that the tirade apparently began after two black audience members started shouting at him that he wasn’t funny. Richards told them to shut up and then proceeded to taunt the men, peppering his speech with racial slurs and profanities.
Calls to Richards’ representatives were not returned Monday. He refused to comment on-camera when reached by CNN, but the network reported that he said off-camera that he felt sorry for what had happened and had made amends.
About a half-dozen community activists gathered at the club Monday to denounce Richards’ remarks and demand an apology. At a news conference later, club owner Jamie Masada expressed remorse and said Richards will not be back at the club until he says he’s sorry.
Seinfeld issued a statement saying he was “sick over this.”
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