Michael Richards loses it

[Dottore]

Originally posted by Tim Hancock
Reminds me of a similar situation.

Not that I ever cared for him, but my sister while working in Chicago had the unfortunate job of working with Jesse Jackson for a charity event. She said when the cameras were off, he was hitting on the women and talking like a street hood....as soon as the cameras were on him, he morphed into "the most honorable reverend Jesse Jackson".

Yup. A very good friend of mine has made the identical observation about JJ.

[CJFusco]

Originally posted by tabs

Many years ago Michael Richards got his start on a late night comedy program much like SNL....called Fridays....One night they had a guest on called Andy Kaufman...who belittled women to the point of it almost t being a fight on air. Kaufman later went on several talk shows to apologize. It was all a setup without the cast of Fridays knowing about it.

Yes and no. Most of the cast didn't know about it, but some, INCLUDING michael richards, who was one of the most "outraged" on camera, was in on the joke.

That's too bad about Richards being an ass to the caterers. A woman I used to work with now works for a catering business near the shore in CT. She has done catering for both Martha Stewart's family and Conan O'Brien. Said Stewart was a nightmare, and O'Brien was one of the friendliest and most affable celebrities she'd ever met, even going as far as to help the catering crew clean up after the party and having a couple drinks with them afterwards.

[Sonic dB]

This is America the land of second chances and short attention spans. His career will bounce back like everyone else that screws up in Hollywood

As I said, "his career is Toast, for now.


Lots of people in the world are a-holes, celebrities included.
It magnifies things when they are rude to caterers, hit on women,
or talk "street"...but people are what they are and what they would be had they never had the hit show, or the pseudo-religious-political career.

[nostatic]

there's no such thing as bad press

[juanbenae]

i don't know what he's even bothering with stand up fer, it was my understanding the last few years the cast was getting a million+ per episode. if i had that kind of money i'd just "go away", find some property with a house, a big garage for my cars & tools, far from the lights of town, the BS and racism. id also have a few dogs, maybe a wife, and some kids.

why bother?

oh, and id never, and i mean never hire caterers apparently

[Sonic dB]

i agree...but maybe Kramer blew his money on classic British sports cars and needs the work.

[dd74]

Originally posted by CJFusco
Perhaps his attitudes are juvenile, but he has a sophisticated understanding of the pace and momentum of film, along with the effect of sound/music, not to mention that he is a master of writing dialogue. Make no mistake, within academic film circles, Tarantino is slowly-but-surely being canonized, and in 15-20 years he will appear on syllibi along with Ford, Hitch, Wells, et al.

dd74, when PULP FICTION was produced (1994? 96?), Tarantino already had a multi-picture deal in place with Miramax, thanks to the massive success of RESERVOIR DOGS. I don't think the man needed to do a lot of script shopping. Moreover, I don't see PULP FICTION as being an incredibly racially-charged movie.

I'm still not sure what you mean about racially-charged films not getting made. One of the biggest movies of 2005 was CRASH, non?

Hey CJ, sans the canned analysis you make about Tarantino with pace and momentum, sound and music and dialogue - blah, blah, blah; let's get to the heart of the issue with the pure fact that had it not been for Harvey Keitel, Reservoir Dogs, partly because of its content, would have never been made. Had it also not been for Harvey Keitel, RD, would have received an NC-17 rating. Had it not been for Keitel financing much of Reservoir Dogs and taking on the financial risk, partly because he wanted to regenerate his own snoozing career, Reservoir Dogs would not have been made.

So save all the undergrad film school regurgitation; you're missing the point of the business by confusing it with tech stuff that doesn't matter if the film can't be made at all.

As for Pulp Fiction, your mention of that film proves what, exactly? That Tarantino has a legal obligation to fulfill a previously established contract with Miramax? That the movie was ten to twelve years old and produced in a much different time than movies today? As I said, try pitching a movie like that TODAY, not ten years ago.

As for Crash, the polar opposite of racially charged, that movie was more racially apologetic. Of course it won awards as it was an easily accessible, superficial movie ripe for a simplistic PC-hazed moviegoing crowd. I mean, really, was there something new and interesting about Crash other than encapsulating short stories about racial stereotypes by paper-thin characters inspired by Haggis' (the movie's screenwriter) own L.A. carjacking?

Please...theft of a Mercedes (or whatever car it was) inspires true great racially-charged commentary on America - I don't think so.

[Nathans_Dad]

Upodate: The two African American citizens who were involved in this issue were on the Today show this morning. Apparently they have hired a lawyer who is "challenging" Richards to meet with the two men in front of a retired judge and see if Richards thinks he owes these two money or not. She says that once he sees the trauma he caused he will feel compelled to given them money.

Lauer asked her what her legal recourse was if Richards refused and she dodged the question.

My opinion is that either there is no case here since it was verbal abuse or (more likely) on the ticket to the Laugh Factory there is some sort of disclaimer that says you cannot sue the performer or the comedy club if you are insulted by the performance.

Course leave it to a lawyer to try and squeeze some cash out of any situation.

[TerryBPP]

Originally posted by CJFusco
Yes and no. Most of the cast didn't know about it, but some, INCLUDING michael richards, who was one of the most "outraged" on camera, was in on the joke.

That's too bad about Richards being an ass to the caterers. A woman I used to work with now works for a catering business near the shore in CT. She has done catering for both Martha Stewart's family and Conan O'Brien. Said Stewart was a nightmare, and O'Brien was one of the friendliest and most affable celebrities she'd ever met, even going as far as to help the catering crew clean up after the party and having a couple drinks with them afterwards.

Its funny, she does almost all the parties for Donald Trump and said he is one of the nicest people to deal with. Go figure.

[bigchillcar]

the lawyer might could actually care less whether any monies change hands..she's getting a ton of free public exposure out of the issue nonetheless..worth it win or lose.
ryan

[sammyg2]

OK you want a good example of the double standard I alluded to?

Richards called somebody a name. Oh..... a name... ouch. Lets sue him and everyone else in the state. It is all over every single news media outlet, you can't get away from it.

But, today is also the day that 10 young blacks are being arraigned for attacking and violently beating 3 young whites in Long Beach, and no one cares. it is barely in the news, just getting a casual mention.
Here's part of the story from the long Beach Press Telegram:

LONG BEACH - Ten youths were arrested, nine of them girls, and charged with a hate-crime attack Tuesday night after allegedly jumping a group of young females and beating them.
Police learned about the beatings shortly after a Good Samaritan interrupted the melee and came to the victims' aid, said Officer Jackie Bezart, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.

The victims told police they were walking on the 3800 block of Linden Avenue at about 9:15 p.m. on their way to a haunted house when they were taunted, then jumped and beaten up, Bezart said.

The girls said there was a large group of young black boys and girls gathered in the area as they walked up the street. When the victims - who are all white - walked by the group, the black youths began taunting them and shouting racial slurs, Bezart said.

At some point, the verbal attack turned physical and the victims - believed to be two girls and one adult - sustained substantial injuries, Bezart said.

One of the victims was also robbed of her cell phone, the officer added.

After the Good Samaritan intervened, the attackers fled.

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_4588767


So what I see is, it is not a big deal if whites are beaten to near death by blacks, but if a white person calls a black person a name it is almost justification for a congressional investigation.
If the roles were reversed and 10 whites beat up 3 blacks while using racial slurs, there would be rioting in the streets and it would be front page news all over the country.
That is a double standard that even the wackos will have trouble arguing with. It won't stop them, it will just make it harder for them

I am not defending richards or his actions as I do not approve of what he did. I just want to see it treated as it should, as name calling. Keep everything even, fair, equal, and in perspective.

Stop blowing a stupid little thing into a great big issue, stop attacking one race more than another for the same or worse infraction.

[Dottore]

sammyg2:

Your comparison is deeply flawed.

If Jamie Fox or some other black celebrity made similarly racial remarks about whites in a public forum it would get just as much media attention - or more.

So what's your beef? That's the way it is.

Blacks assault whites. Whites assault blacks. That's another matter.

[dhoward]

No it doesn't.
It happens all the time. It's a part of black comedic culture. Has been for years. I feel threatened everytime I hear a rap or hip-hop song make a reference to whitey.
Who do I sue?

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by dhoward
No it doesn't.
It happens all the time. It's a part of black comedic cultute. Has been for years. I feel threatened everytime I hear a rap or hip-hop song make a reference to whitey.

Well that is different

[speeder]

Originally posted by sammyg2


So what I see is, it is not a big deal if whites are beaten to near death by blacks, but if a white person calls a black person a name it is almost justification for a congressional investigation.
If the roles were reversed and 10 whites beat up 3 blacks while using racial slurs, there would be rioting in the streets and it would be front page news all over the country.
That is a double standard that even the wackos will have trouble arguing with. It won't stop them, it will just make it harder for them

Damn, brother, right on!! Finally someone speaks the truth! Remember when those skinheads in Simi Valley jumped the black kid selling newspaper subscriptions and beat him pretty badly last year? Those riots were intense, man! And you couldn't avoid that story for weeks, front page even in cowfuch Iowa.

NOT.

Welcome to Sammyworld, the amusement park dedicated to the white man's burden. Where reality gets checked at the door, and things are what you say they are, damnit!! Where no one calls you a wacko or a fruitcake for making schit up, like the fantasy that Sammy alludes to above. Nothing but stupid crackers as far as the eye can see, all agreeing with your made up stories. Family discounts available.

Oh yeah, the white-on-black beat-down in Simi Valley really did happen last year, and similar crimes occur all the time unfortunately. Usually they don't make the papers if no one is killed, and if they do, it sure ain't on the front page. And there have never been any riots over private citizens beating each other, whether black/white/asian/whatever.

Most reasonable people agree that racial hatred exists across ethnic lines and that it sucks no matter who the perp is, and also agree that when a famous (or semi-famous) person messes-up in public it makes the news for a minute, how long depends on how slow a news week it is. Only in Sammyworld are these facts twisted into his above rant. Wacko.

Oh yeah, a link for you Sammy boy:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-award21nov21,1,3772313.story

[CurtEgerer]

I love Kramer. Michael Richards? He and his behavior have no more relevance to me than the sanitation engineer who just emptied the dumpster at my office. I'll never understand why we as a society assign importance to what celebrities say, think, or do?

I remember seeing some sort of Seinfeld reunion show a few years back. They had each of them talk about and play their favorite clips. Richards had NEVER before seen himself on screen as Kramer and was all weirded out about it. Very strange duck.

[MysticLlama]

So has anyone else noticed the tons of radio ads across multiple stations advertising Seinfeld season 7 on DVD, or is that just me?

[bigchillcar]

curt..why did you change your username? i just realized who you are..i think.
ryan

[bigchillcar]

So has anyone else noticed the tons of radio ads across multiple stations advertising Seinfeld season 7 on DVD, or is that just me?

just follow the money trail...commerce talks, bs walks..
ryan

[CurtEgerer]

I got tired of meeting people from this board who knew me by 'cegerer' and didn't know my real name!

Anyway, there's no denying Kramer did some funny ***** ... I've always wanted to try this in a bar: