ntalwar said:
The outburst wasn't part of a comedy routine - it just happened to take place in a comedy club.
Exactly, it's directed at a paying customer and not part of his routine. And even if someone in the audience called him a dumbass white mfer first (I never heard that on the tape) it still doesn't justify saying what he said on that tape-nothing does. Who knows what order all of his occurred in, when something like this happens there are usually differing accounts.
No matter how angry someone makes you, there is no excuse for racist attacks and retaliation. He's a grown man, and when you're a grown man or women you should learn how to control your anger and how to express it in an appropriate manner. I would think that if a person expresses anger in a racist manner, he/she has those feelings, thoughts, and attitudes- even if he/she hides them/doesn't express them during the normal course of everyday life.
Former "Seinfeld" star Michael Richards says he is sorry for his racial epithet-laden diatribe at a Los Angeles comedy club and insists he is not a racist.
"I got heckled and took it badly and went into a rage," he said in an interview Monday night via satellite on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman."
The interview was arranged by his former co-star Jerry Seinfeld who had already been scheduled to appear on the program.
Appearing distraught and on the verge of tears at times, Richards said, "I am not a racist! That's what's so insane about this. For me to be on stage, and flip out and say this stuff, I'm deeply, deeply sorry."
What set the three-time Emmy winner off? A comment yelled by Kyle Doss, who had just entered the club with friends a few minutes before.
"I had said my friend doesn't think you're funny," Doss said.
The Laugh Factory invited Richards back the next night, saying he had promised to apologize on stage.
However, he did not, and on Monday, the club owner — facing outrage from civil rights groups — banned Richards from performing there.
"He's not welcome to this club," Jaime Masada said at a news conference to the applause of a handful of community activists in attendance.
On "The Late Show," Richards said he had some "personal work to do."
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=2669578&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312