Michael Richards is going to meet with four folks who were in the audience the night of his now-famous tirade and if we read between the lines of this article, it would seem they're going to get some money out of it. A reader of this site, Nick Varga, writes…
I have a problem. Why is it that someone who disrupts a show thinks that they're entitled to a "possible cash settlement?" Why didn't the club request that these people leave when the incident started? Weren't they the ones who started heckling Richards? For that matter, why aren't other people who were at the show to have a good time suing the people who heckled for interfering with their chosen entertainment? Am I wrong that this is all so blown out of proportion? Did I miss something? Did Richards start this by singling this group out? Sorry. I have no where else to vent this and it's bothering the hell out of me.
It's my understanding that one group of people in the house started yelling at Richards in response to remarks they found offensive and that sent him off the edge or over the top or however you want to describe where he went. The person who recorded the infamous video started it then to document what was happening on stage. Eventually, most of the audience walked out. It's not clear if the folks who are now talking about demanding cash from Richards were among those yelling back…or even if that would qualify as heckling.
Beyond that though, I'm with you. A cash payment in this case sounds like an attempt to exploit the situation for personal gain. Frankly, I think Mr. Richards is already receving the appropriate punishment just in terms of humiliation and the likelihood that a pretty large chunk of the public isn't going to go see anything he's in.