One of my favorite one-off jokes from The Simpsons was when some interview show (conducted by Kent Brockman, of course) had Gloria Allred as a guest. In pure Simpsonian fashion the graphic below her identified her as "Gloria Allred: Shrill Feminist Attorney."That's what I was thinking when I saw her on the Today show this morning. Apparently, she's representing the targets of Michael Richards' racist tirade last Saturday, Kyle Doss and Frank McBride. And, in true grandstanding fashion, she decided to take the opportunity to challenge Richards to meet the two men he yelled at and have a retired judge arbitrate the "compensation" they deserved (Video is here).
They deserve compensation? For getting yelled at? Who's kidding who, Gloria?
Doss and McBride came into the Today studio to tell their side of the story. According to them, they entered the West Hollywood Laugh Factory with a large group while Richards was doing his act. The noise they were making as they got settled bugged Richards and he soon started into the meltdown, letting loose a couple of n-words even before someone thought to pull out his or her camera and record the experience.
There's no reason not to believe these guys; they seemed truly hurt by and disgusted with the venom that Richards spewed at them. But when Matt Lauer turned to Allred, who was speaking via satellite, all of her lawyery bluster came out as she spoke of how these men deserve to hear an apology directly from Richards. That makes sense. But when she spat out the word "compensation," I just shook my head, thinking, "And there it is."
As wrong as Richards was, it's not something that he should pay for monetarily, is it? Doss and McBride seem like nice guys, but it got me wondering if they're now going to take advantage of a wealthy person who had a weak moment. Even Lauer sensed this, because he asked the men if Richards wasn't just exercising his free speech, as terrible as it was. They didn't have an adequate answer for that. And, I wonder if the reason why Allred is calling for an arbitrator for the case is that she thinks it wouldn't stand up in court, either.
Anyway, all Allred did was take a couple of guys we were feeling sympathy for and undermine their case with her grandstanding. Sometimes, Gloria, an apology is enough, don't you think?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-22-2006 @ 9:59AM
Josh said...
I totally agree. I saw the interview when I was getting ready for work this morning and said out loud the exact same things written above.
I went from completely sympathizing with the two young men Lauer was interviewing to thinking they were trying to cash in on an unfortunate situation. I've never felt my respect for someone disappear so quickly.
Also, Allred is a woman who is notorious for taking cases just to get face time on network television, then dumping the clients when she's gotten her interviews. I know I've just described almost every lawyer alive, but she seems like one of the worst.
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11-22-2006 @ 10:03AM
CJ said...
I wont argue the fact that what Richards did was pretty crappy. But I would bet dollar to donuts that this has happened in clubs puh-lenty of times, except people didnt have video cameras and YouTube.
Monetary compesation is joke, at the most give them 200 bucks each for ruining their evening out. But I'm sure their lawyer is looking for a LOT more than that.
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11-22-2006 @ 10:33AM
Gordy said...
Gloria Allred is a media whore. I hate her. I mean, wasn't she the skank's attorney in the Scott Petersen thing? Nicole Brown's sister in the OJ thing? She was in the Michael Jackson thing in some way--lord knows she was always on TV talking about it.
I guess everyone has to make money, but, geesh! This is why I don't watch network news...too much non-news.
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11-22-2006 @ 10:57AM
TomB said...
Allred's a whore. She'll do anything to get on TV. She probably cold-called those guys and manipulated them into pursuing a lawsuit "in their best interest". She's just another low-life lawyer that gives the entire law profession a black eye.
Were the racial slurs terrible? Yes.
Do they deserve an apology? They already got one.
Do they deserve compensation? No.
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11-22-2006 @ 11:03AM
L'Emmerdeur said...
I do believe these gentlemen deserve compensation for their heckling. They each deserve to be beaten to within an inch of their lives. Then they will have compensated Richards properly.
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11-22-2006 @ 11:24AM
Eklen said...
Yes, i can see it now, 'We just walked in, expecting a good show, a few laughs, and nice memories. Then, the unthinkable happened. We were just sharing a small conversation, when Michael Richards started yelling at us, and screaming unthinkable words. I don't know if I will ever be able to forget that night. I was harmed mentally and emotionally, and believe this man should pay! Pay alot. Very much. Like in the millions for the mental damage he caused us'
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11-22-2006 @ 11:25AM
Book Fan said...
If the idea is to punish Michael Richards, then by all means, consider him punished. He's going to lose a lot of what little work he has.
And the two hecklers are every bit the racist that Richards is. They lost their temper too, and they called him a cracker. It's either unacceptable for everyone or it's not for everyone.
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11-22-2006 @ 11:33AM
SamMalone said...
The sad thing is any lawsuit would almost require that Michael Richard's countersue them on the grounds of interrupting his work or something ridiculous like that.
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11-22-2006 @ 9:03PM
Sheila said...
I think there are plenty of comics out there that spew the stuff Richards said quite regularly as part of their act, but nothing is made of it. That's free speech in America folks!
But the fact that it's come from the mouth of "Kramer" gives it a whole different angle. It's unfortunate that Richards didn't have a better handle on how to handle hecklers but what's done is done. He obviously regrets it and said so on Letterman, though he's probably correct that it wasn't the right venue to make his mea culpa. People thought it was a joke, when it clearly wasn't.
What is a joke, is Allred trying to get the "victims" to cash in on the incident.
But as long as there are pending lawsuits, what about the video being taken during a public performance - "the taking of pictures and use of recording devices are strictly prohibited."
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11-22-2006 @ 1:02PM
KMF said...
What Michael Richards said was outrageous and very wrong. I don't know if he totally lost his cool got frustrated and started ranting or that he thought he was being in some sort of way funny. But give the guys money? Yeah right. I knew the minute this whole thing went down someone was going to be sticking their hands out wanting compensation. No one was physically hurt, or mentally. Richards career won't recover this. I think he's paid enough.
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11-22-2006 @ 1:10PM
Alan said...
I think they should be refunded the ticket price and the two drink minimum. $4000.00.
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11-22-2006 @ 2:01PM
corbett said...
Personally, I was emotionally scarred and may never recover from the fright of seeing gloria allred first thing this morning on the Today Show when I woke up.
Gloria, you better call. I want to be compensated. big time.
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11-22-2006 @ 3:09PM
buzmeg said...
There isn't a live TV show that spews some sort of "legal news" that Allred hasn't pimped. She is one of the most annoying people on the planet.
As for "Kramer's" actions, they were deplorable. But, the jury (no pun intended) is still out on this.
As for the "Afro-Americans," as Richards called them, I'm not sure about their description of the incident either. I'd like to hear from some unbiased witnesses that were at the Laugh Factory while all of this transpired.
As for compensation, at best they should be refunded their admission and/or cover charges for enrty into the club.
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