Modified On November 20, 2006
“WARNING: WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE IS PROFANE AND RACIAL” warns TMZ.com next to the video clip of Michael Richards going mental during a recent set at the Factory in Los Angeles. (The video clip rolls after an advertisement for a video game based on “Flushed Away.” How appropriate!)
From the TMZ.com transcript of Richards’ tirade:
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 objects of the tirade summed things up nicely, saying, “That’s un-f***ing called for, you cracker-ass motherf**ker!”
Perhaps Richards is just a reeeeeally big Lenny Bruce fan. (The Sarcasm Light is flashing!)
The TMZ folks filed the posting under “Train Wreck.”
One of our new favorite phrases– “Audibly confused!”
Our every move is being recorded. Big Brother is watching? No… Little Brother is in the back of the house and he’s got a cellphone that can capture video! Fascinating times these are. When a comic loses his cool, or bombs, or gets booed, it’ll show up on the WWW. It matters not if the incident occurs in Manhattan or Missoula, in Los Angeles or Lake Charles, it can pop up on the WWW in a matter of hours. The implications are enormous.
UPDATE: Former co-star Jerry Seinfeld has weighed in on the incident:
Seinfeld issued a statement saying he was “sick” over the “extremely offensive” statements.
“I’m sure Michael is also sick over this horrible, horrible mistake,” he said.
“It is so extremely offensive. I feel terrible for all the people who have been hurt.”
The number of articles on Google news is past 400 and no doubt growing hourly.