The Michael Richards "news event" is amusing to me, not because of his comments, but because I've had the displeasure of seeing him perform on many occasions, and working with him in the Aspen comedy fest years ago. The thing is, this wasn't an out-of-the-blue occurance. He does these abusive/racist flip-out rants nearly EVERY TIME he goes on stage. Remember, HE IS AN ACTOR. The Laugh Factory knows that, and in fact he performed there again the very next night. Jamie Masada (aka Satan), owner of The Laugh Factory, only made his public statements of shock and demanded an apology when the press and the protesters started showing up. Jamie Masada, who would sell his mother for a nickel and has watched Richards do this Tourrettic "surprise" outburst a hundred times before. And how did Paul Rodrigues (aka Pablo) suddenly become the spokesperson for the racially abused? Anyway, it's nice to see his face on TV again.

It was only when the public outcry and the viral video got sent around that this went from nightly rant to newsworthy event. I'm not defending Richards. I don't like him, never have. He's a weird man, not right in the head, as anyone who's met him can attest to. And not in the likeable "Kramer" way either - this man is seriously not well. As a standup he's got no material, and certainly no sense of timing. Nothing (aside from maybe The Chevy Chase Show debut) was as awkward as watching him host a latenight event in Aspen and wonder how the hell we were going to get him off the stage. An event takes on the personality of its host, and with Richards as the host...well, it was...uncomfortable. In subsequent standup performances I've seen him do, and in "A" rooms, he always explodes with a studied "rage," verbally abuses the audience, often with racial slurs. I have never seen him do well during a set, let alone average. He's booked because he's a celebrity and tourists are excited to see his name on a marquee.

The black man who got called ugly names is planning to sue. Can Richards countersue for this man's incessent (and very unkind) heckling? We'll see. Anyway, there are NO heroes in this story, and all the participants have their own angle, from making this into a potential payday or getting facetime on TV. Or just covering their own asses. Maybe Fox will put out a special and a book on it, since they've suddenly got an opening for both.