Revisiting the Michael Richards Controversy

I've spoken to, and received numerous comments from, readers and friends weighing in on the Michael Richards controversy. The polarization of the responses presents further evidence of just how vast is the racial divide in this country, something of which most African Americans no doubt are reminded on a daily basis but that we white folks often forget.

The replies have been pretty much split into three camps:

1. "I've noticed that everyone wants to cut Richards a lot more slack than they cut Mel Gibson -- even though Richards didn't even have the booze excuse!"
2. "Why is it all right for the black people in the crowd at the Laugh Factory to call Richards a 'Cracker' but it isn't okay for him to refer to them as 'Nigger'?"
3. "The man has problems that seem far deeper than a few enraged racial epithets, and at least he tried to apologize immediately on national television."

First, about that apology Monday night on "Late Show with David Letterman": it was positively surreal. Richards, sitting by himself, virtually naked, with nowhere to hide, appeared legitimately bewildered and perplexed, speaking of his own invective-spewing rant as if he were discussing the actions of somebody else. It's clear both on the video shot at the club and during his chilling, disjointed appearance with Letterman that he was experiencing some sort of nervous breakdown. I believe the man is probably less a strict racist than an embittered, confused, distraught, unhinged guy in desperate need of intensive therapy.

Does this excuse the words that left his mouth from that comedy club stage? Hardly. And a single apology doesn't erase their impact. But I also don't think it racially insensitive to observe that perhaps this stemmed more from a larger emotional/psychological snap than simple bigotry. Yes, part of Richards' recovery should include diversity counseling to deduce where this racially-targeted rage came from, if it isn't indeed a lifelong mindset. It isn't about letting him off the hook for such a hateful transgression; it's about the larger issue of his mental state and very public implosion.

Again, this hardly excuses Richards' repeated use of what the polite media likes to call "The N-Word," nor does it dismiss the bigotry behind it. But this is obviously about far more than race. It's about the mental state of a man clearly hanging by an emotional thread and who appeared Monday to be in the throes of a sort of mania -- the kind that can lead to suicidal thoughts.

You simply don't often see television infused with the sort of raw emotion evoked during that interview. Letterman was particularly gentle in his questioning. And Jerry Seinfeld -- who obviously engineered the on-camera purge/apology out of concern for his buddy -- showed himself to be a true friend indeed to Richards. It was clear there was a fatherly element at work in Seinfeld's arranging for this interview, obviously conducted without publicist consultation or pre-planning or image makeover artists. There was nothing concocted or superficial about it. And in that sense, it made for an altogether bracing experience.

It took genuine courage for Richards to go on Letterman at Seinfeld's behest when he was in such a fragile and wounded state. And you got the feeling the man was staring not merely into a camera but squarely at his many demons. He didn't have the alcohol excuse, and he didn't concoct one. It was, refreshingly, about a guy trying to take immediate responsibility for his ugly actions and blaming no one but himself. So no matter what else you want to say about him, he showed some guts.

However, as my longtime journalist/author friend Kevin Allman writes on his indispensible blog, Richards did himself no favors by trying to drag the victims of Hurricane Katrina into his Letterman apology. It again speaks to the lack of preparation and advance consultation with publicity types, which proved commendable but also a bit imprudent.

The fact is, I don't know where this racism came from if we're to believe Richards isn't what he appeared to be on that stage. Obviously, something went haywire in his circuitry while being heckled, perhaps his longstanding and well-known anger at having been forever typecast as "Seinfeld's" Kramer. He very much needs to get over it and move on, use his millions to open a theater, take a year-long sailing trip around the world, come to terms with reality, enjoy his wealth and his life. There are worse things than being known as an iconic character from a revered sitcom and having that memory prevent you from landing other work. You've got to know that 99.999% of the Screen Actors Guild membership would take that deal in a heartbeat.

So, to finally answer the issues in order:

1. If we're cutting Richards more slack than we did Mel Gibson, maybe it's because he isn't hiding behind publicists and statements and put his face out there front and center in the sort of vulnerable fashion that Gibson never has and never will.
2. It isn't all right for African Americans to refer to white people as "Crackers." But under the chaotic circumstances, it was understandable because the dialogue had grown so horribly ugly due to Richards' deplorable conduct.
3. If Gibson deserves another chance, Richards certainly does, too. But given the already-tenuous state of his career, I fear he may never get it.

Comments

[KD]

I enjoy reading your blog, but you do seem to be cutting him a lot more slack then in your previous coverage of Mel Gibson's antisemetic debacle. Just the tone of your writing: With Richards it's almost a resigned sort of understanding or willingness to give him another chance and a need to come up with an excuse for him (ie: he's got mental problems). With Gibson there is an undercurrent of disbelief in whatever excuse Gibson comes up with.

Is it because we actually saw Richards' rant and not Gibson's? Is it your own Jewish background? Is it the fact that Gibson's past projects have raised questions about anti semitism in the past?

I do think it's interesting that something like the OJ interview on Fox (regarding a 10+ yr old murder case) gets more play and outrage from the general community than Richards' (a more recent star on a still loved and hit tv show) racist ranting caught on tape.

Personally I think both are racists. It's just very intersting to compare the coverage of these stories...

[Kevin]

Ray... a few thoughts:

1. If we're cutting Richards more slack than we did Mel Gibson, maybe it's because he isn't hiding behind publicists and statements and put his face out there front and center in the sort of vulnerable fashion that Gibson never has and never will.

Actually, Richards has hired Howard Rubenstein, one of the most skillful media-massagers in Hollywood, to plot his next steps. (To their discredit, the men at whom he screamed have engaged the services of that media carrion-crow Gloria Allred.)

Moreover, why was his apology delivered to David Letterman? When Trent Lott found himself in deep racist doo-doo, he went on BET and faced some tough questions from the outstanding Ed Gordon. I'd have a lot more respect for Richards if he went face-to-face with Gordon instead of another white comic.

2. It isn't all right for African Americans to refer to white people as "Crackers." But under the chaotic circumstances, it was understandable because the dialogue had grown so horribly ugly due to Richards' deplorable conduct.

Yep.

3. If Gibson deserves another chance, Richards certainly does, too. But given the already-tenuous state of his career, I fear he may never get it.

Well, Gibson was (is) a megastar of the screen, who turned himself into a filmmaking powerbroker. (Though I suspect "Apocalypto" will go a long way toward reversing that.)

Richards played a beloved, eccentric character on a sitcome a decade ago, and like so many who are irretrievably tied to an iconic TV character, has found trouble replicating his success.

Comparing Gibson to Richards is, in terms of success, like comparing Clint Eastwood to Rhea Perlman.

Last: It wasn't hard for people to say that, based on his anti-Semitic statements, Gibson was an anti-Semite. I don't know why it's much harder for people to say that, based on his racist statements, Richards is a racist. Instead, what I've heard is that he has "issues to work through" and "demons to fight off."

All of which may be true. But it's also true that Michael Richards is, by any definition of the term, a racist.

[Theodora]

In the sacred words of my dear, departed Daddy: "If you're lookin' for sympathy, it's in the dictionary between shit and syphillis."

First off --Richards apologised THREE DAYS later --only because Seinfeld and Letterman gave him airtime. If he was filled with such huge remorse, he should've offered his culpa Saturday night at the club or on any of the local TV stations.

I can't feel sorry for a person who willfully vents their hatred, then gets all doe-eyed with remorse.

Yeah --maybe he is having a nervous breakdown.

Solution?

Stay home...

Get HELP...

and don't book mic' space at a comedy club to commit suicide.

On the coin's otherside...

This whole situation is outta the box.

The hypocrasy is deepened when you 'examine' the number of Rap "artists" who use the same unsavory explitive against their own people as well as fostering mysogeny... Yet, let one honky tread the same besoiled carpet --and the Flames rise again.

There's no excuse for either.

"Celebrity" does not afford anyone the luxury of running their mouths like a backing up septic tank. Nor should it create a PityParty forum for those who recant what they obviously believe is their "truth".

Stop comparing Richards' rant to others vitriolisms.

He needs to man up and take responsibility for his actions.

[OldOldLady Of The Hills]

Personally, I don't think there is anydoubt that Michael Richards is a racist. The continual spewing over and over and over of the word "nigger" said with such anger and hatred...PLEASE....! These things do not come out of ones mouth in a barrage of hatred unless that is what you really feel...

His apology, well...during that apology when he said he was not a racist he called African Americans "Afro-Americans"...Hello?

Is this man troubled? Yes! Does he need some kind of help? Yes. It does not excuse the tirade of racist horrors that flew out of his mouth, as a man who only said these things because he is having a "breakdown"...

This man needs to look deep into his heart and soul and mind and really look at the fact that he is a racist in his depest deep, through and through...

[Theodora]

The follow-up to the racial BitchSlap is blindingly ironic...

Dr. Boyd (first name eludes me) was on CBS this morning, **embracing** the use of "...the N-word..." as a term of ENDEARMENT; defending RAPholes' use of it "...in song..." He sees no problem with kids on the street, bantering it around --and blithely *blamed* WHITE KIDS for supporting RAPcrap...

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH?????

I remember, as an extremely impressionable tweenager, attending a rally in Times Square in the late 1960s --extolling Equal Rights...

I still carry a huge billy-clubbed lump on the side of my head, compliments of the NYPD's "finest" white supremacist --for being denounced as a "N-lover..."

My daughter carries the same vigilance as her Mother-ship --which I will not bore y'all with minutea at this point... But suffice it to say that our sense of Justice is Soul-ingrained.

Richards' excuse that he doesn't know where this hostility comes from --shrugging it off with the banal disclaimer "I was brought up in a Black neighborhood and some of my best friends are..." is a lame excuse for denouncing his Racism...

Just like Mel Gumflaps' recant of his anti-Semitism...

Famous old lyric: "You've got to be taught to hate and fear..."

The NUTcases don't fall far from the rotting boughs apparently.

As for Gloria Allred's grandstanding --sad that a once-vital legal egrette has become a conniving ambulence chaser...

The gents in the audience need not be financially compensated... They're obviously well-heeled enough to afford a night on the town in Hollywood...

If there's any financial tithing to be made --Richards should be directed to donate a sizeable amount of bucks to a scholarship fund to help young black children get out of the racist rut to better themselves....

As for attempting to gain sanction from the "AfroAmerican community" --I'll garontee ya --damn few of 'em know who he is or even care...

His assumption that the 'title' makes them little more than a can of chitlins (ergo: FrancoAmerican spaghetti) proves he hasn't had enough education to stand alongside us in the current millenium...

Yeah, Jerry made him apologize...

He doesn't want Season 7's CD sales to drop off...