Hang him upside down and stick a fork in him, Michael Richards career is done. Already fading away, the former K-K-Kramer decided to give his career a poorly thought out publicity boost, Mel Gibson style.During a failed piece of standup last Friday, Richards was taunted about his lack of comedy skill, and he decided to prove the heckler right by launching into a racial epithet-laden rage that cleared the room. Richards, who is Exhibit One of The Seinfeld Curse, has already begun the de rigueur rounds of celebrity apologies – most likely because his What’s the Deal With N-----s? routine was posted in all its bigoted glory on the gossip site TMZ.
Appearing last night on the Late Show with David Letterman during a segment with Jerry Seinfeld, Richards said he was sorry and that he was not a racist. If that doesn’t take, expect to see him check in to rehab in the next week for drugs/alcohol/exhaustion or a tearful admission to Oprah about being abused as a child. As Cosmo’s former lawyer Jackie Chiles would have said: “It's outrageous, egregious, preposterous.”
In other news, it appears Fox has finally found something that even they find unpalatable. The usually, umm, cutthroat Rupert Murdoch has put the kibosh on O.J. Simpsons “fictional” confession If I Did It, Here's How It Happened. Seems the tycoon came to the realization that an interview and book of Simpson graphically describing how he would have carried out the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman, stating that it “was an ill-considered project.” Gee, ya think? Anyway, I’m glad to see them come to their senses and I just hope it isn’t all being saved for MySpace.
Talk about killing one's career. And the sad thing is that Richards could have re-started his career with the proper vehicle. I don't believe in "the Seinfeld Curse." In the history of TV only a few actors have had multiple hit sitcoms (Bob Newhart and Lucille Ball come to mind). But Julia Louis-Dreyfuss has proven that the veterans of Seinfeld can do it--I haven't watched Old Christine, but it seems to be popular. Of course, now it is too late for Richards. Quite simply, he blew it.
ReplyDeleteYup, I think it is over for him. The difference between Richards and Gibson's rants is Richards' rant is going to live on the web forever for all to see - and it is quite visceral.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Seinfeld Curse, I don't really believe it either and think it is a handy piece of media shorthand - just a little blogging hyperbole on my part.
That made me sick to my stomach. Seriously, that was unbelievably sad...
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about this tirade, I thought it was a joke. No such luck. What on earth was he thinking??
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