Michael Richards won three Emmy Awards for his portrayal of zany neighbor Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld . But that gilded comedic legacy was tarnished one night in November 2006. The actor and comedian sat down with ET's Nischelle Turner this week to open up about the infamous night at the Laugh Factory, where he responded to a heckler with a racist tirade, going so far as to repeatedly yell, "He's a n****r! He's a n****r!" at the audience member.
The incident initially flew under the radar for several days, until TMZ obtained cell phone video of Richards' tirade. Public backlash ensued, and Richards writes in his new memoir, Entrances and Exits , that he made the decision to "cancel himself" in the wake of the outburst. "I took myself out.
You don't need to take me out, I'll take myself out -- I'll save you the trouble," he says of his choice to step back from public life and live performances. "I'm pulling back from the community..
.I need to get into soul work, OK? I need to get into myself more to know thyself, so I'm taking myself out of the situation." The incident at the Laugh Factory, Richards explains, set him on a path of self-discovery that ultimately led him towards writing the memoir.
"After that club incident I withdrew, and I needed to view that kind of behavior -- what the heck is behind all this?" he shares. "Losing it the way I lost it..
. it was a catalyst, it took me deeper into myself, my life, my family, the world." "I've been so reclusive for so, so many years.