“Seinfeld” alum Michael Richards was spotted in a rare scene Sunday, marking the first time in two years that he has been photographed in public.
The 76-year-old actor was seen walking in West Hollywood, California over the weekend in photos obtained by Page Six. Despite the sunny weather, Richards covered up in a black jacket, dark jeans and boots.
Richards was wearing glasses and appeared to be alone during the outing.
The last public event he attended was the May 2024 premiere of Unfrosted in support of his Seinfeld co-star Jerry Seinfeld. This event was his first red carpet appearance in eight years.
The actor has largely stayed out of the spotlight since 2006, when he infamously hurled racial slurs at a heckler during a comedy show at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles. Richards, best known for playing the eccentric Cosmo Kramer on the iconic sitcom Seinfeld, yelled shocking slurs at two black men in the audience and stormed off stage.
Richards revisited the incident in his 2024 memoir, Entrance and Exit. He recalled someone calling out to him from the balcony: “You’re not funny.” We think you’re not very interesting! ”’ he said.
“Of course, looking back, I wish I had agreed with him,” Richards wrote, adding, “He became depressed and I became even more depressed. In the end, we both hit the bottom of the barrel.”
The comedian said he was bothered by comments from hecklers who said he wasn’t funny.
“He explained my biggest fear very clearly and very simply: It’s not funny,” he admitted. “Later, you will realize that all this, everything that he said, is me. His voice is my voice. This is all happening to me. My inferiority complex sets in and my anger explodes.”
He also said that all of his Seinfeld co-stars (Seinfeld, Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus) had contacted him after the incident, and that he was “embarrassed” and “concerned that the confusion would spill over to them.”
In May 2024, Richards revealed that he secretly battled prostate cancer in 2018 and underwent surgery to remove his entire prostate.
“We had to contain it quickly,” he told People. “I had to have a full surgery. If I hadn’t had it, I probably would have died within about eight months.”
Richards said he wants to live a long life for his wife, Beth Skipp, and their other young son, Ben.
“I thought, ‘Okay, it’s my turn. I’m ready,'” he told the outlet of his initial feelings after being diagnosed with cancer. “But after just a few seconds, I remembered my son and heard myself saying, ‘I have a 9-year-old and I want to be there for him. Is there a way to make my life a little better?’
The actor also has a daughter, Sophia, with ex-wife Kathleen Lyons.
