"I [told Richards] you need to sit down and deal with this, give us some money," Sharpton told CNN.
Posted on 11/22/2006 3:57:53 PM PST by LouAvul
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Rev. Al Sharpton said Wednesday he refused to accept an apology from actor Michael Richards, who spouted a racist rant at a comedy club last week.
But Sharpton said he did agree to meet with Richards to try to start a process to address racism in America.
"I [told Richards] you need to sit down and deal with this," Sharpton told CNN. "This is not about accepting an apology, this is about starting a process to really deal with the continual problem of racism in this country." (Watch Richards' meltdown on stage -- 1:39 )
Sharpton said he got the call from Richards earlier Wednesday.
"I think that what he did was so injurious that he has to sit down with a group and decide how he tries to ... deal with healing the obvious problem he's got in his own mind and his own heart, because it couldn't come out of you if it wasn't in you," Sharpton said.
The incident took place Friday night at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, California.
In a video clip posted on the celebrity gossip Web site TMZ.com, obtained from an audience member, Richards unleashed a nearly three-minute tirade punctuated by racial slurs at a group of African-American hecklers.
In it, he made a reference to lynching and added shortly before walking offstage, "That's what happens when you interrupt a white man."
TMZ.com is a subsidiary of Time Warner, as is CNN.
Richards apologized Monday on CBS's "Late Show" with David Letterman, saying he is not a racist.
"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," said Richards, who appeared on the show via satellite.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I've been waiting for Jackson and Sharpton to step into the fray.....Richards is about to get taken to the cleaners.
I'm waitin' for the heckler's appology for using the "C" word.
>:[
appology
- p
_________
apology
Why did I know his apology wasn't going to be enough?????!!!
No forgiveness for some--this is what you get from a fake minister of the Gospel.
Hey, Big Al--when are you going to pay Stephen Pinones what you owe him?
Kramer should just tell Al that he's apologized and is moving on with his life.
Kissing everyone's ass just gets you Gibsonized.
Why? Was Sharpton in the audience when Richards blew up?
I gotta admit, Richards's appearance on the show and his commentary were more bewildering than anything else. He did seem distraught by the whole thing, no question, but his commentary made me wondering more about whether he has his full mental faculties or not.
His repeated use of 'Afro-American' was odd, and his strange extended pauses were curious. Even the studio audience laughed at inappropriate times during those very long few minutes.
Strange situation, and a strange guy.
I gotta admit, Richards's appearance on the show and his commentary were more bewildering than anything else. He did seem distraught by the whole thing, no question, but his commentary made me wondering more about whether he has his full mental faculties or not.
His repeated use of 'Afro-American' was odd, and his strange extended pauses were curious. Even the studio audience laughed at inappropriate times during those very long few minutes.
Strange situation, and a strange guy.
Enough of the communist style reeducation. He did it, he apologized and the rest is a pile of BS.
waiting for al-Sharpton to apologize for his antisemitism.
Sharpton is an asshole.
What good does it do to not accept an apology when it is given?
Stir the pot and sling more mud. Nuthing is ever good enough.
What does he want? 40 acres and a mule?!?
Can you believe all the time spent on this story today, the anniversary of the JFK assassination?
"I [told Richards] you need to sit down and deal with this, give us some money," Sharpton told CNN.
We're still waiting for Sharpton's apology about Tawana Brawley, accusing a cop and the prosecutor of being racists.
Starting a race riot-Yankel Rosenbaum.
Freddy's Fashion Mart, instigation a murderous riot.
Calling Jews interlopers and diamond merchants.
The list of his racism goes on and on.
He has no place in respectable society, if we were a civilized society, he would be shunned and ignored, and not allowed on TV, including Hannity's show.
Slip Sharpton $20 and tell him to scram.
Remember what the MSM did to John Rocker for voicing his opinion about the denizens on the 7 train?
some how, it was George Bush's fault
Send $$$
Richards certainly is a racist, at least as much as Sharpton is. And, of course, for Sharpton it's all about the money. Richards needs to show him the money. And then Richards better have plenty more to spread around, because every race-hustling scumbag on God's green earth, along with their scumbag lawyers, will be coming by with their hands out.
My wife and I used to go to the comedy clubs years ago. One night we visited the Comedy Club on Sunset in Hollywood. Up until midnight the performances were some of the funniest we had seen. Then one black "comedian" focused on a very attractive white woman in the audience.
This guy was vicious and the offerings were racist, vulgar and way over the line of anything that might be acceptable along the lines of interactive comedy. It made my wife and I very uncomfortable. The audience seemed to agree. The woman and her small group got up and left. The comedian's stint was over shortly after that.
The next guy was also black and made the first look tame by comparison. When my wife and I finally walked out, we were actually somewhat fearful. By that time everyone in the audience was black and the mood was ugly. We were sitting in front and hadn't realized how the makeup of the audience had changed in the last half hour or so.
Racism is ugly. It's a two way street. Whites do not have a corner on the market. It's a personal choice to be racist or not, and no race is free from racists in their ranks.
"Enough of the communist style reeducation. He did it, he apologized and the rest is a pile of BS."
Yep.
There's nothing more fun than watching a couple effeminate liberal jugheads engaging in a cat fight.
Interpretation: I'm meeting with Richards to figure out the best way to shake him down for money.
Interesting. There's always more to these "white racism" stories than there seems to be. In this case, the fact that some black comedians are much worse. More people need to know about this. I hadn't, though, now that you mention it, I can easiily believe it.
-PJ
As California goes, so goes the nation......
I'll take a different tack and defend Michael Richards. He is in California where trends begin. He is or at least seems to be a radical left winger. He is or seems to be a liberal's liberal. He is leading the way. From California he is showing the clear path to the future.
Political Correctness in speech is dead. No more are we to shackled and bound with the ropes and chains of PC speech. We are free as the constitution intends. We need no longer fear the feigned offense of the many minorities who whine and moan when their name is mentioned.
Rave on Kramer.....rave on.
Al wants a cut of the pie when Richard's is parasite'ized..
Cosmo Kramer is about to get BLED..
I meant to say he accused the cop and prosecutors of being RAPISTS, he probably called them racists too, that's what he does for a living.
Sharpton went to eat in Englewood, NJ where my friend was eating one day. My friend loudly talked the whole time about what a low-life scumbag Sharpton was plenty loud for him and his cronies to hear, Sharpy said nothing.
Even better, tell $harpton and the horse he rode in on to F-off.
Only white people can be racist by definition in a PC mad world.
Why? Richards apologized. The incident is over now. Why can't Sharpton/Jackson let it go?
I'll tell you why - because they want to remain relevant and bask in the public eye. Where was Sharpton when Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, and dozens of other black and Latino comedians at when they spewed the "N" word?
I'm still waiting for the black comics at Laugh Factory to apologize to (1) the other blacks for peppering every act with the N word,a nd (2) all the whites who they offend frequently in their acts. When that happens, I'll re-think this Michael Richards thing; until then, I have no problem.
I think Richards realizes his glory days are behind him, and his career is in the toilet. Plus he's pushing 60.
Richards blowing up was a big surprise for me, he's the last person you'd expect to pull something like this. Kind of reminded me when sportscaster Marv Albert was busted for putting on women's lingerie and participating in bisexual sex.
I think there's less to this story than meets the eye.
Maybe he's trying to become the reincarnation of Andy Kaufman. This has all been an amazing satire. - Hmmm, I kind of doubt it.
Imagine a white person calling a black woman a "dumb c-word" that is generally used to describe her privates. That was just one of the comments this guy made to or about her.
I accept that some racial jokes are rather funny, if that isn't the whole act. If a black gets up there and tells a some great jokes at white's expense, then moves on to other good material, I've got no problem with it. I do think there are better ways to be funny, but what the hey.
Both these guys focused on whites for their whole act. It was just ugly, and I don't think many would think otherwise. If the tables were turned and a white guy had done this at Hispanic or Blacks' expense, I'd have thought it very problematic as well.
Um, how can an apology be "not enough" when it's not even legally required? It's out there. Either like the guy or don't, but move on.
I hear ya...
No surprise, the uber-racist Al Sharpton has to jump into the fray when the issue should be dead and buried.
Jesse Jackoff cannot be far behind - Al and Jesse will now proceed to try to milk "Kramer" in every way possible -- for money, publicity, shameless self-promotion......
Hey, Al Sharpton, when are YOU going to start a "process" for getting past the virulent vicious racism YOU represent, from the Tawana Brawley scam right up to the present day???
I'm just sarcastically pointing out that a pound of flesh is never enough for the likes of Sharpton. Sharpton would be one of those ghouls like in Iraq who drag bodies around because killing someone wasn't satisfying enough.
Richards better get funny real fast, his pockets gonna need it.
I've fogotten - what atonement did Sharpton make for inciting a mob to burn down a clothing store, killing the owner in the process?
It was very unusual. I am a wisecracker and every wisecracker knows that sometimes what sounds incredibly witty and hilarious inside your head has almost zero comedic power when it is released into the real, 3-D world.
I really have no idea what he was thinking. I honestly think he wasn't thinking, or that his thinking (for whatever reason) was seriously impaired.
It will be hard for him to bounce back from this one, I think.
I think some of these comedians must be absolute scum.
Customers need to draw the line with the managers of these places. Walk out and say why. Publicize the names of these extreme comedians and their clubs. Hit them in the pocketbook. Yes, more scum will probably come to hear them, but decent people will tend not to, and ultimately, decent people are better for business.
Stick it Al.
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