Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: Entrances and Exits, jerry seinfeld, michael richards, seinfeld, Unfrosted

Seinfeld: Michael Richards Addresses On-Stage Racist Meltdown & More

Michael Richards (Seinfeld) on his life & career and how the fallout from his on-stage racist meltdown forced him to confront his demons.

Michael Richards isn't looking for forgiveness for his meltdown in 2006 at Laugh Factory after hurling racist slurs toward hecklers that ultimately ruined his career. He sees it as a wake-up call to confront his demons and insecurities that he struggled with throughout his career – even during his days on Seinfeld as fan favorite Cosmo Kramer. Appearing for his co-star and series creator Jerry Seinfeld for his Netflix directorial debut at the Unfrosted premiere, the actor-comedian opened up about his struggles and reflected on his fame, including the infamous stand-up incident in his memoir Entrances and Exits.

Seinfeld Star Michael Richards on How His Racist Meltdown Was Related to His Career-Long Struggles

"I was immediately sorry the moment I said it onstage," Richards told People. "I'm not looking for a comeback. My anger was all over the place, and it came through hard and fast. Anger is quite a force. But it happened. Rather than run from it, I dove into the deep end and tried to learn from it. It hasn't been easy. Crisis managers wanted me to do damage control. But as far as I was concerned, the damage was inside of me."

Richards admits he's spent the past 17 years in "deep analysis" and "it was time to figure out where all the anger was coming from. Somehow I couldn't connect to the joy of being an artist," he said of his Seinfeld fame largely staying out of the public eye since his meltdown. "I was a good character actor, but I was comfortable being the character, not in being me." He admits turning down hosting Saturday Night Live twice, something his Seinfeld co-stars have done. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was a former SNL cast member before her memorable role as Elaine Benes on the NBC sitcom. "I didn't feel good enough," Richards said. "I was never really satisfied with my Seinfeld performance. Fame magnified my insecurities."

Regarding that infamous night, Richards said he's not racist. "I have nothing against Black people. The man who told me I wasn't funny had just said what I'd been saying to myself for a while. I felt put down. I wanted to put him down." On his life now, "[I'm] learning and healing. Healing and learning," he explains. "But life is always an up and a down. I continue to work through the day and the night, the light and the dark that I am." For more on his life and career, you can check out the entire piece here. Entrances and Exits comes out on June 4th through Permuted Press.

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