From WiKi:
In November 2006, during a stand up routine at The Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, Richards was heckled by audience members, prompting him to unleash a tirade of expletives and racially insensitive remarks. He later told CNN, off-camera, that he was sorry for what happened and that he had made amends. 24 hours later, he was back performing on the same stage.
http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/showbiz/2006/11/19/b.anderson.nword.cnn
Thanks for the link. Unforunately Richards doesn't seem to give a cogent defense in his brief off-camera statement.
In the actual video we of course see nothing that of what happened preceding the incident but I seriously doubt, unfortunately, that it justified the disgusting language.
I should also note that Mr. Pitts was not questioned about his use of the term "cracker" by the CNN reporter. The absence of that question again shows the hypocrisy on a racial level and the bias on a media level.