Jiggin Johnson I was just gonna comment that LMAOOO they woulda ran down on him with torch’s and pitch forks 😂😂 Social justice warriors head’s would’ve exploded like the white guy who saw Clayton Bigsby’s face on that Dave Chappelle skit
Not really. I feel people were more willing to stand up for injustices 12 years ago. now, it's more of a don't stand up for what's right, no black loyalty an anything-goes mentality.
JENISE LETT-STOVALL really? From my standpoint I see the complete opposite. Generally, now, if a person simply has a different opinion than someone else, they immediately become confrontational and refuse to have a civil, thoughtful conversation. So in terms of leniency now Vs. 12 years ago, I think there’s far less now.
Jerry telling the audience not to laugh is the funniest shit that guy has said in his career. I was drinking coffee when this came up, almost choked to death.
I think that the audience was laughing because this attempt was so poorly timed and so poorly executed that they thought it simply had to be a joke. Just an all around dumb idea.
@@Ezekial2517 Yeah absolutely. I still don't understand why he would want to get on a show (That is known for being a mainly comedic show) and do it in front of people who normally laugh every 10 seconds
Seinfeld had him come onto a late night comedy show to apologize for racist remarks. What idiot thinks a comedic actor coming onto a comedic talk show to talk serious with an audience ready to laugh was a good idea?
This wasn't his first enraged outburst, just the first one where he was caught on video. Back in 1997, I was an unpaid extra in the movie Sudden Death, I was one of many locals who volunteered to sit in the arena seats to look like spectators watching the hockey game. During one of the film crew's breaks they brought Michael Richards out to entertain us, and several extras started heckling him and it became a huge shouting match between him and the hecklers. I don't recall him using any racial slurs then, I just knew I lost a lot of respect for him that night. I can understand Michael Richards getting upset at the hecklers, but to start taking it out on everyone else in the crowd, that's why I lost respect for him.
He might have been okay if he'd had a plethora of achievements behind him like Mel Gibson or Louis CK do, since they at least eventually managed to salvage themselves. All Richards had was Seinfeld though. Even if Kramer was a great character, you need more than that to pull yourself out of a globally-broadcast racist tirade.
If you think about it, this was the first incident of so-called ‘cancel culture’ in the social media age. RU-vid had only been around for about a year, and it was the beginning of cell phone cameras becoming ubiquitous. Michael Richards, being an old school comedic performer, was insanely naive not only about how profoundly venomous his outburst would be perceived, but also about the emerging phenomenon of online ‘virality’ of something as simple as an average audience member’s grainy cell phone recording. It was truly the dawning of a new age in the ability of the masses to participate in and even affect the popular culture
I just meant that most celebrities, their agents will probably tell them to STFU. People and the media are so vicious about this kind of stuff it's dangerous for your career to be associated with it in any way. Jerry didn't listen to that, he said no, he's my friend and I'm going to try and help.
Years ago I saw Michael Richards sitting at a table outside of Whole Foods Market in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. SEINFELD was still a series, and I complimented Michael on his acting as Kramer. Michael Richards responded to me very rudely. I started walking away, and he said something to compensate for his rudeness, but it was too late. "Yeah," I replied, and made a hasty exit.
@@rasalghul9331 I guess maybe he appeared on here because in 2006, youtube was in its infancy along with most of social media. Or maybe it was the idea of some publicist lol comedians from his era seem to go hand and hand with late night talk shows.
Lil Rascal sincere? Lmao he was trying to save his already dying career. You seriously think it’s sincere hahahaha he didn’t suddenly not become racist after yelling the n word and wanting slavery
Mark Sacher - it would go different if “Kramer” was actually there. It’s easier to relate to the seriousness of the issue in a face to face. All people see via satellite is “Kramer”. His facial expressions look like he is about to say something Kramer ish’ funny!
@Decadent Descent people don't have time for that. why do you think celebs get paid just for endorsing a product? people don't have time to allocate any significant time to try and learn the real truth
+Aubrey Roe they are mostly just sad pathetic people looking for something to focus their self loathing on. The rest are just trolls dwelling in loneliness and sadness.
+Jeffrey Mboya Michael is not a racist. People get angry and they can lash out. His mistake was simply not walking off stage and spouting that stuff in a way to get it blasted all over the world. Clearly he deserves forgiveness and the issue should be forgotten. Nobody got hurt and people should lighten up. Some wanted to use this to push their own agenda. The talking heads need an issue to talk about and he gave them one.
No dude, not genuine at all. Looking at his freak out this guy definitely had some deeply ingrained hatred and he’s only acting this way because his freak out got him in trouble.
Yeah. He just has a funny way of speaking, and we're not used to seeing him not in character as Kramer. I guess the Kramer persona is really part of him. And then Jerry said "Not funny, stop laughing" in his typical deadpan Seinfeld voice, which just made me laugh even more...
This was before social media as we know it and this show was filmed the morning after, before it really hit the news cycle later that night. Most people in the audience had no idea what happened the night before.
Everyone is making fun of Jerry for telling the audience to stop laughing but I thought it was cool of him. Jerry is obviously disgusted and disillusioned, but never withdrew his support for Michael and continued to stick up for him, even if he drew derision for it. A real friend.
I agree that it was benevolent and charitable of Jerry but telling the audience how they should react to this moron smacks of condescension and sanctimony.
RIGHT!! & he ruined his whole career over a heckler that night. Im hurt for him honestly. Being a black female & watching the video, i still hurt for him. He said what he said in the heat which everyone does. All he can do is apologize, but todays society wont let him make it up. Even with all the crooked politicians & low brow shit that goes on out there today. This is old & not even important news. Kramer, when the show was in full swing was still underrated. Richards could have been great.
I saw this on Letterman as it happened, but knew nothing about the back story, so I thought it was some kind of strange, on-the-spot, comedic stunt and I awkwardly laughed too when Michael said, "I was heckled...and said some pretty nasty things." I'm sure the audience didn't know what was going on either. I've seen some hilarious ways that comedians deal with hecklers, so I was curious to hear what happened.
And maybe because it was the fucking DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW. The audience wasn't expecting anything serious, nor should they. Totally wrong place for a serious apology
This was totally the wrong forum for this apology. That’s why the people were laughing. The didn’t know what to expect. Props to Jerry Seinfeld for going out of his way to give Michael an opportunity to apologize! True friend.
DeliverersBestFriend my comment didn’t bring up his religion at all. I am not saying anything like that. I am simply saying he not just being a “good friend,” he had a selfish motive too.
Disagree, just because he used the bad word are we gonna not acknowledge that he was dealing with scumbags that arrived to his show to be rude towards him and his audience. How does it make sense to be decent to people who aren't decent?
@@RufioTheThird It's not wrong to tell off someone who's being rude or aggressive to you, there's no right way to do it either. Are you saying he should have been kinder to the rude dipshit invading his show? What's next? Be kinder to the axe murderer in your house? No no no buddy, the guy came into his show to be rude, that's a wrong, and Richard told him off and wasn't kind, and that's a right.
One time when I was young during a dinner I couldn't stop giggling at something and my grandfather said "ENOUGH! STOP LAUGHING!" it only made me and my cousins burst out in shared laughter, and he was in a rage. I don't know what started it.
I love how certain people on here act like they've NEVER had a thought run through their head in a moment of weakness, that just happened to be on the racist side. I don't give a flying rat's ass who you are or what race you are, everyone has had a thought or two run through their head at some point in your life. Does that make anyone racist? No, it makes us human. Cut the "holier than thou art" BS and Let's be real here.
Cookie 33 people go to the late show to laugh. They had been laughing all night and then they see Kramer. Probably not the best place for an apology but he pushed through.
@@goatsmiserable555 yes but honestly I think by the way Jerry and Letterman were addressing the situation pre apology you would've gotten the vibe of seriousness this is of course assuming people had good social reading skills which seems to be very few these days (also I'm NOT saying you're bad at social reading I'm just telling my thinking about your comment)
People were probably laughing because they're so used to seeing that face and having a laugh, they probably couldn't fathom the seriousness of the situation.
Like, he's trying to do this super serious/somber apology and it comes across as fucking stupid. Complete with awkward pauses. He's digging himself a deeper hole by doing this farce, so he deserves to be laughed at.
then what's going on? Is this a witch hunt and they have him on tv to embarrass him? Because way I see it, people tend to show their true colors when they're upset and that's when you learn what kind of person they truly are. That and when they're drunk.
what do you mean whats going on? You watched the same video right? The billionaire Jerry Seinfeld asked David Letterman to do him a favor and let Michael Richards explain himself and apologize on his show. I dont know the man but it looked like he was pissed off at some disrespectful people at a comedy club and went for shock value but it backfired. Maybe deep down he is racist, maybe not. But to judge someone solely on something they said, while angry during a performance doesn't seem right. Looked like he just picked the low hanging fruit when trying to shit talk a couple of black guys.
@@endocry thank God somebody else gets it. I take care of my black friend's house on the weekends while he talks shit about white people daily. I'm sick of the hypocrisy.
Michael meant well but he went on a show that most black people do NOT watch and apologized to the black community. Thats like Chris Rock apologizing to the white community by goin on the BET awards. 🙄
He seemed genuinely disgusted with himself, as he should be. The hecklers deserved some abuse, but unfortunately a racist rant offends everyone and is a ugly thing to witness.
Duncan Wallace It's all shades of grey. Yeah, the set he did (or the portion of it we all can see) was at best in bad taste. But, I mean, this guy isn't a racist. He seems genuine. Something like that rant is just career suicide though, in part because it's so memorable. It's hard to even see him without thinking of the meltdown, let alone to go to one of his shows.
without googling, name me one single thing he did after Seinfeld, and I will concede that his career wasn't dead already. This burned the dead body of his career, making CPR of it, useless, but he didn't have alot of promising roles ahead of him. I do agree that it was an err in judgement vs. a peek at his internal racism...I think he went off in attempt to spin the situation in his favour, but the content was in poor taste and controversial. We haven't yet arrived to the time in our history when it's been so long since slavery that we can joke about it, and assume it will be publicly acceptable or politically correct. He fucked up and it made him look like a piece of shit. (However, from the direction some of these SJWs I see on college campuses are leading the world, soon it will be illegal to make jokes and we will have to have safe spaces inside our homes in case they come in. he went too far, but I don't think this did anything worse to his already faded career. If anything, it put him back in the spotlight for a little while.
After watching it I actually respect the fact he came on national TV and apologized despite how visibly and audibly difficult it was. What he did was still messed up but he learned from it so...
Master Class in public apology. I didn't get one hint of the "they did something bad, and I responded, just in a poor way" vibe you get out of many public apologies where even as they apologize, they try explaining away some of the guilt. Tough to watch, but Richards had some real guts to go through with the apology without resorting to excuses... even if he seemed to somewhat regret it in the moment- as he stated something along the lines of "this may not be the right place for it".
I mean yeah… I’m not gonna lie I didn’t miss him a single bit. Knowing he didn’t ever get to go on stage again (except for Curb) is simply excellent. He’ll never be worried about finances, but friends? Loneliest motherfucker that’s still alive.
In reality, most minds don't take it seriously in knowing it is just a temper loss of a kind we all do. Nobody cares nor takes it to heart. Never has changed opinions except we miss the talent on tv.
He seems genuine, the dog pile got to him, I'm black and I appreciate the apology. I've lost my cool many times among many walks and people have forgiven me. Water under the bridge bro, just use it as a learning experience and do better my man #justwords he didn't go on a shooting rampage.
Well said, we all done something or said something about all walks of life, especially when angry and provoked; even if it was just mere stereotyping or in joking manner! What matters is we continue to work on ourselves and be to good to ALL people!
A logical RU-vid comment..... Something is off here lol. But that's a pretty mature way to look at it. Hopefully this kind of mind set prevails and all this attack culture backs off. Its getting crazy for people
Anger is never an emotion to bring to a stand-up set, and that's what got him. He tried to use racism as a comedic device without the competence to do so. In the vid he struggles to work it into 'a bit' because he's totally failed to empathise with his audience. He tries about 30 seconds in, but he bombed, got angry and totally lost his fucking head. Stupid fucking Kramer.
Dave C 1:38 to be precise the actor is aware of the audiences reaction. They’re laughing as though he was still joking as kramer. This actor is one of a kind and a man who’s performance that’s intellect with integrity. Although the people are laughing.. after a couple more minutes most of them suddenly knew what was really up. We are human and some of us take a few moments to realise when something is serious. Peace to all 🙂
Jerry Seinfeld has a humiliation kink for other people, one of the many examples being how he brought out Adam Sandler has an opener for him and told him it had to be a clean act
As an audience member at the show they coach you to literally laugh at EVERYTHING because it's probably supposed to be funny. This is one instance where that's not the case.
Brian Turner New York audiences AUTOMATICALLY laugh at anything a celebrity does, and so when Kramer is on Letterman with Jerry Seinfeld, that's the holy trinity.
Al R It just looks too much like a Seinfeld plot-- "Jerry goes on Letterman, and Kramer ruins it by showing up to apologize for saying something stupid on TV." Funnier than the Puffy Shirt. It's the oldest sitcom-cliche: a serious performance on a TV-talk show screws up, but everyone thinks it's a comedy sketch.
I remember seeing this when it aired and at first I thought it was a bit.....then I realized it was supposed to be serious.....totally wrong place to issue an apology.
My thoughts exactly...wtf was Letterman thinking? Seinfeld instigated this, because he was the actual guest. If Richards wanted to apologize, he should have come to the studio, not hidden in some underground bunker. It added enough distance that the audience couldn't read the situation well. Letterman's show was all about smart-ass humor...what was Richards expecting from a late night audience?
Can you really blame him for using a slightly out of date term like "Afro-American"? First of all, that was the proper terminology during his lifetime. Secondly, they keep changing terms every few years as a way of keeping everyone's attention and claiming instances of fake outrage to get people's money to fight racism. A long time ago it was acceptable to use the term "coloreds" or "colored people" but then people would be outraged to hear someone say that. Fast forward to 2018 and they just rearranged the order and call them "people of color." It is a complete joke. Words are not racist. It is the intention that matters. I will continue referring to black people as "black" and white people as "white." I would never expect society to refer to white people as "Caucasians" or "European Americans" so I won't be calling black people "African Americans." They aren't African. They are Americans, and that is just fine for all of us, regardless of ancestral origin. If a person's color is what you want to describe, then use the fucking color.
