It’s been 18 years since Michael Richards’ racist comments effectively ended his career in 2006, but the “Seinfeld” star has found inner peace since then.
During the live performance, Sit-down interview Joining “Today” host Hoda Kotb, Richards reflected on his past behavior, explained how he’s changed since the night he used a racist slur while on set at the Laugh Factory, and revealed why he chose to exile himself from Hollywood.
“I’m probably more self-aware now,” the 74-year-old actor told Kotb. “Anger was taking over me. I was in denial about myself. I’m trying to figure out what on earth was going on in my mind that made me walk away from show business and lose my cool that night and do something so vile that I hurt people.”
“Have you made amends?” Kotb asked.
‘Seinfeld’ star Michael Richards says he ‘doesn’t want to come back’ after 2006 racism scandal
Michael Richards has spoken about how the racist comments he made in 2006 affected his career. (The Today Show / NBC)
“I think so,” Richards said. “I’m definitely at a place where I can forgive myself, because I have to move forward and be honest.”
Richards, who released a memoir, “Entrances and Exits,” on Tuesday, people “I have no desire to come back,” he told The Times magazine last month.
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“I regretted it the moment I said it onstage,” said Richards, who rose to fame playing Cosmo Kramer on “Seinfeld” from 1989 to 1998. “I don’t want to come back.”
Michael Richards was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018. (Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage/Getty Images)
“My anger was all over the place, and it came at me hard, and it came all at once,” he continued. “Anger is a force to be reckoned with, but it happened. Instead of running from it, I tried to dive in and learn from it. It wasn’t easy. Crisis managers wanted me to do damage control, but for me, the damage was inside me. It was time to figure out where all of the anger was coming from.”
“I’m not a racist,” he added. “I have nothing against black people. The guy who said I wasn’t funny just said something I’ve been saying to myself for a while. I felt insulted. I wanted to put him down.”
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Richards, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018, said his own struggle with health issues inspired him to write the memoir.
Michael Richards, left, is best known for playing the character Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld from 1989 to 1998. (Scott Flynn/AFP)
“I got through it,” Richards said of her successful treatment at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. “I beat the disease, and that led to a major reevaluation of my life and what inspired me to write this book.”
While Richards doesn’t expect forgiveness from everyone, he hopes that those who choose to read his book will do so with a lesson in mind.
“I’m a human being,” he told Kotb, “and there’s good, bad and ugly running through all of these things. I’m trying to be a better person.”
“You just discover yourself in the process,” he continued. “It’s really fun. But I know when I approached that situation four and a half years ago, it was hard work dealing with the living and the dying.”
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