How much money does Michael Richards have to give to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to buy back his reputation?
I just read an Associated Press story on the Michael Richards fiasco. This thing is getting better by the minute. Let me comment on this story as written.
The title is "Men Seek Apology From Ex-'Seinfeld' Star." This really means Christmas is coming and they want money for some 42" plasma televisions and High-Def channel subscriptions for a couple years. The article states that the two men were insulted by Mr. Richards' racist rant at a comedy club and want a personal apology and "maybe" some money.
Maybe? Sorry, but there are no maybes when lawyers are involved.
The men, Frank McBride and Kyle Doss, said they were part of a group of about 20 people who had gathered at West Hollywood's Laugh Factory to celebrate a friend's birthday. According to their attorney, Gloria Allred, they were ordering drinks when Richards berated them for interrupting his act.
One question: did the brothers go home that night and say, "You know, that Kramer guy called us "nigger." I know; let's call Gloria Allred!"
Yeah, that's what happened. They called Gloria, right?
When one of their group replied that he wasn't funny, Richards launched into a string of obscenities and repeatedly used the n-word. A video cell phone captured the outburst.
Was using that video cell phone to record a live paid performance legal? Maybe Richards can sue somebody.
According to the article, Richards later made an on-air apology on David Letterman's Late Night show, and subsequently apologized to civil rights leaders the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Now, this needs explaining.
Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton weren't in the Laugh Factory that night. Can anyone, aside from an ignorant person, tell me why an apology was issued to them? I said ignorant because only an ignorant person would think that an apology to the Reverends was an apology to all black people.
And only an ignorant person would think Richards needed to apologize to all black people. I wasn't there; Richards don't owe me anything. I just won't buy Seinfeld's Season 7 DVD and I find myself channel surfing past the late night re-runs. Punishment enough.
The men's attorney, Gloria Allred, would like Richards to meet her clients in front of a retired judge to apologize, and allow the judge to decide on monetary compensation, according to the AP story.
So this is where it was destined to go. Everybody wants Kramer's money. This is sick. This is called blackmail. Give us some money and we'll all leave you alone. For now.
"Our clients were vulnerable," Allred said. "He went after them. He singled them out and he taunted them, and he did it in a closed room where they were captive."
Gimme a break. Those men could have walked out any time they wanted, but as insulting as it was, they were involved in that train wreck everyone wanted to watch. It's not like this traumatic experience was the first time those men ever heard the word directed at them. For Gloria Allred to act like it was and demand a monetary payoff is shameless.
Just when we forgot all about Amber Frey, we have the potential for weeks of Gloria Allred's mug on television again. Christmas is coming, and Santa needs cash money for those presents. This is one time that the usual suspects have increased the value of the story.
The word "nigger" is worth money now. People had better be real careful when they use it. Allred sees a pattern emerging. White people beware: black people may start taunting you. If you use the n-word, you may get a letter from a blood-sucking lawyer.
Thanks, Michael. Thanks, Allred. This will be great for race relations.
bob@blackandright.us
http://blackandright.us/
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The funny thing is that nobody thought it prudent to capture the rest of the live performance where these two nice guys were just enjoying a few drinks. By all accounts I've heard, they were being disruptive and incessantly heckling. Not that it justifies what happened, but any comic in the world would have made some wise cracks and called some names when he's being heckled by a group of obnoxious patrons in the cheap seats (I've been to more than one comedy show where this happened). If Chris Rock were in the same situation and called two obnoxious white guys something like "cheap-ass white boys", nobody would have batted an eye. In fact, half the audience would have been rolling, and we probably would have read headlines like: "Courageous black comic fights racism with wit". And judging by the language these innocent boys used in response to Richards (for those who haven't seen the video it was "F***ing cracker-ass white boy"), I'd be curious to know exactly what it was they were saying before that. The hilarious thing is that these guys, and half the other patrons, probably left the club that night and jumped into their car to listen to some soothing rap music where every other word is either f*** or the dreaded "N" word. I guess it only offends their delicate sensibilities when a rich white TV star uses such foul language. On top of Gloria Alred wanting her piece of the Michael Richards pie, the Laugh Factory is demanding he pay 6 million dollars (1 million for each "N" word) to a charity of their choice. I'm sick of the double standard. Michael Richards has apologized multiple times. He doesn't owe anybody anything more than that. You know what? I just ordered my Season 7 Seinfeld DVD's, I still Tivo the reruns, and I'm not at all ashamed of it. Aside from the fact that I can separate Seinfeld the TV show from the real lives of the actors who play on TV, Michael Richards is not a racist. He had a fit of rage and picked the words he thought would most offend the other party. Just like probably every other person in the world has at one time or another. Personally, I'm still waiting for Louis Farrakhan to apologize for saying that the entire nation of Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth.
Comment by Patrick Mulligan | November 28, 2006
Richards' apology tour brought this whole thing into perspective for me, and is a perfect microcosm of our society as a whole.
Notwithstanding the irony that Jesse “Hymietown” Jackson is urging him to seek counseling for his mental deficiencies by using a racial slur, Richards has absolutely no idea how to respond. He apologizes, blames Bush and the war, talks about emotional and psychic/force field rage, and wanders all over the place.
The explanation is simple. He responded like an a-hole to a couple of a-holes who were heckling him. It's nothing more complicated than this. But like so many Hollywood celebrities with a high school understanding of the world, they need to seek a cosmic explanation for their actions and invoke great gobs of liberal-speak to make it sound like reasoned thought.
Richards should have just said he was sorry for publicly descending to the level of the people who were razzing him and left it at that. Now he has opened himself up to the only meaningful “apology” the offended parties will accept: money to the two a-holes who started it, and to the throngs of race mongers on the Left who perpetuate it.
My only question is how many people will he have to buy off? Paying a bribe to Jesse will not satisfy Al Sharpton. Paying off Al will not placate the others who will berate him until they get a piece of the action.
My only satisfaction is that Richards self-deluded liberalism got him into this mess, and now he’s a victim of his own stupidity. I don’t feel sorry for him, but I lament the precedent it continues to reinforce among society as a whole.
Maybe if people actually stood for something real and believed in something meaningful they’d know what to do — and not to do — when they screw up?
Comment by Phillip Ellis Jackson | November 29, 2006
The guy suing Richards was on Hannity yesterday and sounded like a complete buffoon. "He needs to sit down and apologize to me in front of a retired judge, and accept his ruling." To my disappointment, Hannity never asked the 64,000 dollar question, "And why should he agree to do this with any judge, let alone one that you're picking, when he has broken no law?" To his credit, he did call the schmuck a racist, refuse to let him off the hook about how much money he wanted, and trivialized his "hurt and feeling threatened".
So the guys feelings were hurt….boo hoo. Too bad. Say racist stuff and racist stuff gets said back to you. Garbage in, garbage out. The idea that he felt physically threatened is ludicrous. "In my group of 20 people, I was terrified of a man making rude comments on a stage on a different FLOOR than me." Please. I hope that when this fool takes this to court, he gets hit with a frivilous lawsuit charge, and fined tens of thousands of dollars. That's the only happy ending I can see to this ridiculous story.
Comment by WolvenBear | November 29, 2006
Ridchards is a schmo. I don't know what caused his melt down in the club. But to grovel to Jesse Jackson or Sharpie is totally twisted. Maybe he should apologize to Abraham Foxman for claiming he was Jewish when he isn't.
Comment by Brooklyn Dave | December 1, 2006