Editing Michael Richards (section)

=== 2006–2012: Laugh Factory incident and aftermath===
During a performance on November 17, 2006 at the [[Laugh Factory]] in Hollywood, California, Richards launched into a racist rant in response to repeated heckling and interruptions from a small group of Black and Hispanic audience members. Richards was recorded shouting "He's a [[nigger]]!" several times and making references to [[Lynching in the United States|lynching]], ''[[Planet of the Apes]]'', and the [[Jim Crow laws]].<ref name="TMZ-2006"/><ref name="Vibe">{{cite web|url=http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/2006/11/comedian_michael_kramer_richards_goes_into_racial_tirade/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061231201005/http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/2006/11/comedian_michael_kramer_richards_goes_into_racial_tirade/|archive-date=December 31, 2006|title=Comedian Michael "Kramer" Richards Goes into Racial Tirade, Banned From Laugh Factory|access-date=November 21, 2006|publisher=[[VIBE]].com|year=2006|author=Mariel Concepción|work=News wire}}</ref><ref name="washingtonpost.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/21/AR2006112100242.html |title="Seinfeld" Comic Richards Apologizes for Racial Rant |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date= November 21, 2006|access-date=October 12, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Canadian Broadcasting Corporation">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/richards-deeply-deeply-sorry-for-racial-slurs-1.618610|title=Richards 'deeply, deeply sorry' for racial slurs|access-date=November 20, 2006|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]|work=CBC arts | date=November 20, 2006}}</ref><ref name="Reuters-2006">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-richards-idUSN2041340020061120|title="Seinfeld" Star Richards Under Fire For Racial Outburst|access-date=June 28, 2013|publisher=Reuters|work=News wire|date=November 20, 2006}}</ref> <!-- NOTE TO EDITORS: SEE REMARKS ABOVE THE PRECEDING PARAGRAPH ABOUT CONSENSUS ON THE LAUGH FACTORY INCIDENT, AS IN TALK ARCHIVE 2. CONSENSUS SECTION CONTINUES BELOW -->Kyle Doss, a member of the group that Richards addressed, said the group had arrived in the middle of the performance and were "being a little loud." According to Doss:

{{Blockquote|text=[Richards] said, "Look at the stupid Mexicans and blacks being loud up there." That's the first thing he said. And then he kept on with his bit. And then, after a while, I told him, "My friend doesn't think you're funny." And then when I told him that, that's when he flipped me off and said, "F-you N-word." And that's how it all started.|sign=Kyle Doss|source=Interview on ''[[The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer|The Situation Room]]''<ref name="CNN-transcripts"/>|title=}}<!-- END OF CONSENSUS SECTION, WHICH COVERS THE LAUGH FACTORY INCIDENT. SEE TALK ARCHIVE 2. NEW DEVELOPMENTS SINCE FEBRUARY 2007 MAY BE ADDED AFTER HERE -->

The incident remained unknown to the larger public for three days until a [[cellphone]] video filmed by a member of the audience was obtained and released by [[TMZ]]. On November 20, after the video made rounds around the news, [[Jerry Seinfeld]] invited Richards to appear via satellite during a broadcast of the ''[[Late Show with David Letterman]]'', where Richards was recorded saying: "I'm not doing too good. I lost my temper on stage, I was at a comedy club trying to do my act and I got heckled and I took it badly and went into a rage. And uh, said some pretty, uh, nasty things to some Afro-Americans."<ref name="CNN-transcripts2">{{cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0611/21/cnr.01.html|title=CNN Newsroom|access-date=February 16, 2007|publisher=[[CNN]].com|year=2006}}</ref> Many studio audience members laughed as Richards began his unscripted explanation and apology, thinking it was a [[Bit (comedy)|bit]], leading Seinfeld to reprimand them, saying: "Stop laughing. It's not funny." Richards said he had been trying to defuse the heckling by being even more outrageous but it had backfired. He later called civil rights leaders [[Al Sharpton]] and [[Jesse Jackson]] to apologize.<ref name="CNN-transcripts">{{cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0611/22/sitroom.03.html|title=''The Situation Room'' transcript|access-date=December 4, 2006|publisher=CNN|year=2006|work=[[The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer|The Situation Room]]}}</ref><ref name="CNN-article">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/22/sharpton.richard/index.html|title= Sharpton: Comedian's apology not enough|access-date=April 22, 2007|work=[[CNN]] |date=November 23, 2006 }}</ref> He also appeared as a guest on Jackson's syndicated radio show.<ref name="CBS-2007">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jesse-jackson-talks-to-michael-richards/|title=Jesse Jackson Talks To Michael Richards: Jackson Says Apology For Actor's Racist Rant Is Only A Beginning Before Healing|access-date=April 23, 2007|publisher=CBS|work=News wire | date=November 25, 2006}}</ref> Doss stated that he did not accept Richards's apology, saying: "If he wanted to apologize, he could have contacted&nbsp;... one of us out of the group. But he didn't. He apologized on-camera just because the tape got out."<ref name="CNN-article"/><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VFGv0mdckM Kyle Doss wants reparations for Kramer calling him a nigger] at YouTube</ref>

Richards' popularity among the general public declined after the tape was released. A [[Gallup Inc.|Gallup]] poll conducted in late November found that only 41 percent of Americans still held a favorable view of Richards. By contrast, other ''Seinfeld'' cast members' favorability ratings were in the 70s and 80s.<ref name="poll">Newport, Frank (December 1, 2006). [https://news.gallup.com/poll/25657/Gauging-Impact-Michael-Richards-Incident.aspx Gauging the Impact of the Michael Richards Incident]. ''[[Gallup Inc.]]''.</ref> The same poll also found that 45 percent of non-whites expressed a negative view of Richards due to the incident.<ref name="poll"/> The incident was parodied on several TV shows, including ''[[Mad TV]]'', ''[[Family Guy]]'', ''[[With Apologies to Jesse Jackson|South Park]]'', ''[[Extras (TV series)#US and UK version differences|Extras]]'' and ''[[WWE Raw|Monday Night Raw]]''. In the ninth episode of the seventh season of ''[[Curb Your Enthusiasm]]'', Richards appeared as himself and poked fun at the incident. In 2008, rapper [[Wale (rapper)|Wale]] referenced the incident and used recordings of the incident as well as Richards' apology, in the song "The Kramer" on ''[[The Mixtape About Nothing]]'' album.

One year after the incident, Richards voiced character Bud Ditchwater in the animated film ''[[Bee Movie]]'', which starred and was produced by [[Jerry Seinfeld]]. In 2009, Richards and the other main ''Seinfeld'' cast members appeared in the seventh season of ''[[Curb Your Enthusiasm]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-seinfeld-cast-curb-your-enthusiasm,0,1065194.story |title='Curb Your Enthusiasm' hosts a 'Seinfeld' reunion |date=March 6, 2009 |publisher=Zap2it |access-date=July 23, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090714021730/http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-seinfeld-cast-curb-your-enthusiasm%2C0%2C1065194.story |archive-date=July 14, 2009 }}</ref> In 2012, he appeared in the comedy web series ''[[Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee]]'', hosted by Seinfeld, in which he remarked on the 2006 incident.<ref>{{cite web |title=Richards appears on ''Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee'' |url=http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/michael-richards-its-bubbly-time-jerry/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002001805/http://www.comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/michael-richards-its-bubbly-time-jerry/ |archive-date=October 2, 2012 |access-date=October 7, 2012}}</ref> In the episode, Richards explained that the outburst still haunted him and was a major reason for his retirement from stand-up.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/michael-richards-its-bubbly-time-jerry |title=Michael Richards It's Bubbly Time, Jerry – Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee by Jerry Seinfeld |publisher=Comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com |access-date=May 13, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140511134913/http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/michael-richards-its-bubbly-time-jerry/ |archive-date=May 11, 2014}}</ref>