Thursday, November 23, 2006

'Kramer' hires crises expert

Who's panicked now?

That might be Michael Richards, who's still reeling from the fallout from his racial tirade at the Laugh Factory....

LOS ANGELES (AP) - First he went on national television to apologize for his racial tirade against two black hecklers. Now Michael Richards is taking his contriteness to the next level: he's hired a public relations expert with deep contacts in the black community.

New York publicist Howard Rubenstein took on Richards as a client Wednesday after being contacted by the actor-comedian. He then arranged for Richards to call the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

"I've known those gentlemen for many years," Rubenstein told The Associated Press.

"Michael apologized profusely. He wants to heal the tremendous wound that he's inflicted on the American public, and on the African-American community," he said.

Jackson, reached by phone, said Richards called "expressing his remorse and his confusion."