Michael Richards' apology on Letterman

now this uh this Michael Richards thing well uh now I don't know him well I've known him a long time but I don't I don't know him well and I can remember years and years ago at The Comedy Store uh he would get on stage and he was always a very Dynamic performer uh Dynamic to the point that often audiences were frightened but but still we all got a kick out of it because it was in good fun and and he was uh and he is a very funny guy and then we see this thing today where he goes nuts in some kind of club and a screaming of people have you have you talked to him do you know anything about it I did talk to him I talked to him today and uh you know I was extremely upset about it and uh he is extremely upset about it and I asked him if he would come on the show tonight so that he could explain what happened because uh it's just it was just one of those awful awful things and I I think he's a little mystified about what happened but I think most importantly he wanted to uh we have him live by a satellite from Los Angeles all right this should be Michael Richards Michael are you there yeah I'm right here hi Michael welcome to the show hello hi how you doing I'm uh I'm not doing too good bro what why don't you explain exactly what happened for the folks who may not know I uh I lost my temper on stage I was at a comedy club trying to do my act and I got heckled and I I took it badly and went into it a rage and uh he's had some pretty uh nasty things to some afro-americans a lot of trash talk and uh stop laughing it's not funny and what uh what with the uh you were actually being heckled or were they just talking and disturbing the ACT uh that was going on too and did you I know I mean Harry and your audience laughed you know and it's it's uh I'm not even sure that this is uh where I should be uh addressing there's a situation I've already heard you make some jokes about it and that's okay you know but I'm I'm you know I'm I'm really busted up over this and I'm I'm very very sorry uh to those uh people in the audience uh the blacks the Hispanics the whites everyone that was there that took the brunt of that anger and and and and and hate and rage and and how it came through and and I'm concerned about more hate and more rage and more anger coming through uh not just towards me but towards uh a black white conflict there's a great deal of disturbance in this country and how blacks feel about what happened in Katrina and you know many of the comics many performers are in Las Vegas and New Orleans uh trying to raise money for what happened there and uh for this to happen for me to be on a comedy club and flip out and say this crap you know I'm I'm deeply deeply sorry and um I've got I I'll get to the force field of this hostility why it's there why the rage is in any of us why the trash takes place whether or not it's between me and a couple of hecklers in the audience or between uh this country and another Nation let me interrupt you for a second and ask a question about had the the people doing the heckling or the people who were not paying attention had they been uh white or Caucasian or uh any other race what would have been the nature of your response then it may have happened you know I'm a performer I I pushed the envelope I work in a very uncontrolled manner on stage I do a lot of free association and spontaneous I go into care I do I I don't know in in in view of the of the situation and the and the ACT going where it was going I I don't know the the rage the rage did go all over the place it went to it went to everybody in the room but you can't you know it's it I don't I know people could blacks could feel what he's I'm not a racist that's what's so insane about this I don't and yet it's said it comes through it fires out of me and uh even now in the in in the in the passion and and that's here as I as I confront myself did you did you think did you think that somehow uh by being outrageous and and completely um inappropriate that it might somehow make the situation diffuse it a bit or make it seem lighter than it was I tried to do that you don't have the whole thing there with what they're showing uh everyone I tried to Jujitsu that try to move uh you know you do that I'm on a com I got a microphone and I'm trying but it didn't work out it was a you talk about a bad night you know that's I I you know it's just what everyone said afterward did you talk to the people and apologize I went out there I tried I went out there and uh I I did talk to some people I went back to the club that night to get back on on the stage and to and to work to get back on the horse as they say and I I I I did I apologized quite a few people but I I didn't I I didn't talk to all of everyone they left and I I don't know how to get in touch with those people and then of course they they've gone to press as I think they should the fact that there's that kind of uh solidarity and confronting that kind of those kinds of remarks uh I think it's important for the Afro-American Community to make sure this kind of crap uh doesn't uh does doesn't come about I mean and I'm I'm sorry that it happened and having having apologized uh is there much more you can do much more you would like to do I just have to do personal work um I um I'm still wailing from this it's just been a few days I I don't know yet is there anything you want to say to Michael here um I you know I know Michael many years and I know how he works on stage and none of that justifies what happened but uh you know I've been talking to him today and I I just I I he's someone that I love and I and I um I know how shattered he is about this and um and he deserves a chance that's why I wanted him to come out he deserves a chance to apologize and that's all he wanted and I thank you for letting us oh my pleasure thank you very much Michael I appreciate it I know it's difficult and uh I certainly hope you don't have regrets about being on the show this evening thank you all right take care how about that whoa wow that looks good yeah I guess it was good yeah yeah I guess we could just go home now can't we yeah this this will be a breeze to segue back in the comedy

Channel: royalewithcheese4356

Views: 1,446,683

Keywords: kramer, jerry, seinfeld, david, letterman, racist, racial

Id: IwBoVZh1ruQ

Length: 7min 23sec (443 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 21 2006