Jesse Jackson & Others Seek "N-word" Ban in Entertainment
Rev. Jesse Jackson will meet with TV and film executives to discuss banning the use of derogatory expressions in the entertainment industry. "We want to give our ancestors a Christmas present," he said. Asked about free-speech issues, Jackson said the word is "unprotected."
The Rev. Jesse Jackson and others said they will meet with TV networks, film companies and musicians to discuss the "n-word." They also sought an effort by the public to stop using the term. "We want to give our ancestors a Christmas present," Jackson said at a news conference. "Dignity over degradation." Jackson also asked the public to not buy a DVD box set of the seventh season of the TV show "Seinfeld" that was released last week.
"This is not simply about whether or not the black community forgives or forgets, this is about understanding that this is pervasive, that this happens in all of our institutions, one way or the other," U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, said.
Two guys, both African-American, were in the cheap seats playfully heckling Richards when suddenly, the comedian lost it. TMZ published a video online of the incident. The camera started rolling just as Richards began his attack, screaming at one of the men, "Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f***ing fork up your ass." Richards continued, "You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now motherf**ker. Throw his ass out. He's a ******! He's a ******! He's a ******! A ******, look, there's a ******!"
The crowd is visibly and audibly confused and upset. Richards responds by saying, "They're going to arrest me for calling a black man a ******." One of the men who was the object of Richard's tirade was outraged, shouting back "That's un-f***ing called for, ain't necessary," TMZ reported.
He later told CNN, off-camera, that he was sorry for what happened and that he had made amends. Richards has made several apologies, including one Sunday on Jackson's syndicated radio program, in which he has said he is not a racist and was motivated by anger. He told Jackson he had not used the language before. "That's why I'm shattered by it. The way this came through me was like a freight train. After it was over, when I went to look for them, they had gone. And I've tried to meet them, to talk to them, to get some healing," he said.
Laugh Factory owner Jaime Masada extended an invitation to Richards to perform on December 4 at the club to apologize to the guests who attended the November 17 performance. "He has no intention of going back there and performing right now," Richards' publicist Howard Rubenstein said.
The comedian denied being a racist and claimed he was provoked by "humiliation". He has since started anger management therapy.
Michael A. Richards (born July 24, 1949 in Culver City, California) is an American actor, three-time Emmy Award winner, Freemason writer, producer, and comedian, best known for playing Cosmo Kramer on the television show Seinfeld.
In 1980, he began as one of the cast members on ABC's Fridays television show, including a famous instance in which guest Andy Kaufman refused to deliver his scripted lines, leading Richards to bring the cue cards on screen to Kaufman, before a small riot ensued. He was also famous for a sketch that he did on the show, during which he simply improvised with a large pile of dirt and some army toys. Richards had a guest starring role on NBC's Miami Vice as an unscrupulous bookie. He also had a guest role on Cheers as a character trying to collect on an old bet with Sam Malone. He made several guest appearances with Jay Leno as an accident-prone fitness expert, and gained a screen credit portraying "Stanley Spadowski" in "Weird Al" Yankovic's movie UHF in 1989. His famous improvisation skills can be witnessed in this movie. As is confirmed in the feature commentary and in the deleted scenes special feature on the UHF DVD, the scene where Stanley Spadowski was playing with the toy man he found in the box of Corn Flakes was completely improvised by Michael.
In the same year, he was cast as Cosmo Kramer (based on real-life counterpart Kenny Kramer) in the NBC television series Seinfeld, which was created by fellow Fridays cast member Larry David and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Although it got off to a slow start, by the mid-1990s, the show had become one of the most popular sitcoms in television history. The series ended its nine-year run in 1998 at #1 in the Nielsen Ratings. While he was in Seinfeld, he played himself in Episode 6 of Season 1 "The Flirt Episode" (1992) of the acclaimed HBO's The Larry Sanders Show.
He also made guest appearances on the popular sitcom Night Court.
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