‘Seinfeld’ star Michael Richards to tour California years after racist rant in L.A.

On the heels of his memoir, comedian and actor Michael Richards, who largely disappeared after a racist onstage rant at a Los Angeles comedy club nearly two decades ago, has scheduled a limited California tour, according to multiple media outlets. 

Richards is best known for his portrayal of the ever-erratic Cosmo Kramer on the hit television sitcom “Seinfeld,” which ran from 1989 to 1998.  

The role earned the actor three Emmy Awards and made him one of television’s most beloved comic actors until a 2006 scandal forced him out of the spotlight. 

In November of that year, Richards was performing his standup routine at The Laugh Factory on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood when his set devolved into a tirade of racial slurs and insults aimed at hecklers in the audience.  

The moment was captured on video and quickly went viral. Days later, Jerry Seinfeld appeared on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and attempted damage control, even having Richards apologize for the tirade live via satellite during the show but the damage was done.  

In his 2024 memoir entitled “Entrances and Exits,” Richards again expressed regret over the incident, recalling his upbringing in Southern California, his devotion to a career as an actor after serving in the U.S. military and a spectacularly ugly fall from stardom before eventually setting out to rebuild himself and learning to control his rage, the Los Angeles Times reported.  

His limited California tour, which does not include Los Angeles, is entitled “An Evening of Conversations, Questions and Answers” and includes a live dialogue with audiences.  

The six performance dates, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, began this evening at the Ventura Music Hall, followed by a show Thursday in San Luis Obispo at the Fremont Theater. After that, Richards is scheduled for two nights in the Bay Area’s Guild Theater in Menlo Park on Sept. 27-28, with a final show at the Mystic Theater in Petaluma on Oct. 2.