When Michael Richards appeared on “The View” this morning, his book was at number 845 on amazon’s best sellers.
Right now, it’s jumped to 147. “Entrances and Exits” is on its way as Richards — who has kept out of the public spotlight for years — attempts to tell his story.
Beloved as Kramer from “Seinfeld,” Richards torpedoed his career in 2006 at a comedy club when he had a kind of breakdown and began using the N word over and over.
“Anger had a hold of me,” he said on the Today show this morning. “I canceled myself out. Take an exodus, get away from show business and see what the heck is going on inside me to have been so despicable that night, losing my cool and hurting people.”
Richards’ appearance on The View today was marked by a long ago association with Whoopi Goldberg, who’s clearly fond of him. On the show he revealed that he’s Italian, which didn’t seem to impress Joy Behar as much I thought it would. She upraided him about using the N word in the past or present. But the panel went well overall, obviously, since sales have jumped in two hours.
I met Michael Richards years ago, after his self-cancellation, at a Hollywood party. At the time, it seemed like the incident would blow over or cool down eventually. Even though Richards went on Larry King with Jerry Seinfeld, the matter never seemed resolved. It just lingered for years as Richards remained silent.
“Entrances and Exits” is self-published. Either Richards — who is very wealthy thanks to “Seinfeld” — didn’t want to deal with rejection, or no one publisher was willing to take this on. On The View there were flashes of Kramer, which made everyone instantly at ease — except maybe the actor. I’m going to Kindle this thing today, and see what he has to say.
