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Seinfeld star to apologise
02/12/2006 10:41 - (SA)
Los Angeles - Seinfeld co-star Michael Richards will personally apologise to three black men and a black woman whom he offended in a torrent of racial slurs unleashed during a recent nightclub performance.
"Since this happened, this is what Michael has wanted to do - get in the room and apologise in person to the recipients of his unfortunate remarks," said his spokesperson Chris Giglio on Friday.
An attorney for the four, Gloria Allred, said Richards had agreed to meet her clients along with a retired judge, who would serve as a mediator in recommending any further action.
The retired judge has not been selected, and Allred said the meeting was likely to take place in January.
Richards, best known for playing the wacky Kramer on the NBC smash hit Seinfeld for nine years, might be asked to make a cash payment to the four, but that had yet to be determined, said Allred.
"They (her clients) will be telling him (Richards) about the pain they suffered" as a result of the racial epithets, said Allred in a press conference on Friday.
'How he made us feel'
Richards, 57, sparked a public outcry for spewing a torrent of racial slurs at hecklers during his stand-up act at the Laugh Factor comedy club in Hollywood on November 17.
The incident was captured on digital camera video footage that was widely circulated on the internet and broadcast on TV newscasts three days later.
"I am very happy that Mr Richards has agreed to meet with me and my friends so we can tell him how his words made us feel and so that he can apologise to us," said Kyle Doss, 26, one of Allred's clients.
Allred said her clients were among a large mixed-race birthday party of 23 and were the only blacks at the table of friends.
After exchanges between Richards and audience members sitting at a table on the upper level of the comedy club, Richards launched into a series of racial epithets, and used "the 'N-word'" as much as 10 times, she said.
Richards issued a public apology in an appearance with Jerry Seinfeld on the CBS Late Show with David Letterman the following Monday, saying he had lost his temper on stage.
Since then, Richards has also appeared on a radio show hosted by civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson to make a similar apology.
- Reuters
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South Africa
