Part of the backlash that came after Michael Richards attacked some black hecklers last week was the revelation that he’d also fired anti-Semitic insults at hecklers earlier this year. His defense for that was that it was okay because he’s Jewish. His PR guy said,
"He's Jewish. He's not anti-Semitic at all. He was role-playing, he was playing the part [of a redneck]. He did use inappropriate language, but he doesn't have any anti-Semitic feelings whatsoever."
Oh but hey guess what. Neither of Richards' parents is Jewish, and he never converted. Now his PR guy says:
"He thinks he's Jewish. There were two mentors in his life who raised him and had a big influence on his life, and they were Jewish. He said, 'I agree with the religious beliefs of Judaism, and I've adopted Judaism as my religion.' "
Yeah jackass, and I agree that gummi bears are delicious. That doesn’t make me a gummi bear. Or does it…
(um, I don’t have as many high-res Michael Richards pictures as you might think, so here are pictures of the Islamic fashion show last week.. Rawr! I like the one in the middle!)
Mel Gibson is offering support to Michael Richards as Richards deals with the fallout after he screamed "nigger" repeatedly during a set at an LA comedy club last week. Gibson, of course, went on a similar racist rant a few months ago, his venom directed at "the Jews". Gibson said,
"I felt like sending Michael Richards a note. I feel really badly for the guy. He was obviously in a state of stress. You don't need to be inebriated to be bent out of shape. But my heart went out to the guy… I like him."
Jesus, Mel. There's no way you're this dumb. If you really wanna help the guy, you'll stop helping the guy. This is like when the Klan endorses someone for mayor. “Umm, thanks anyway.” It's like Richards is drowning, so Gibson leaned overboard and said, "Here, grab onto this cobra…"
If you missed it last night, here's the video of Michael Richards on Letterman, explaining and apologizing for his vile racist rant last Friday (more here). The only way this could be any more uncomfortable is if they switched to a split screen and then showed footage of Kay Donaldson laughing at me when I asked her to junior prom.
Michael Richards, who played Kramer on "Seinfeld", was performing Friday night at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood, when he suddenly lost it on two hecklers, both of whom were black. TMZ says:
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 fucking fork up your ass … You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now motherfucker. Throw his ass out. He's a nigger! He's a nigger! He's a nigger! A nigger, look, there's a nigger!"
And then you can actually hear people gasping in disbelief. And I did the same when I heard this because I love all races, they're all my children, as you can tell by my poster of black hands holding a dove under a rainbow.
