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The 14 Juiciest Celeb Meltdowns

#11: Michael Richards

Pre-Meltdown: The odd-haired oddball Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld. A few hundred people also remember him from the Weird Al Yankovic flick UHF.

Low Point: Perhaps bored with not being by millions on TV every week, Michael took matters into his own hands in Nov. 2006, when, in the middle of a "comedy" routine at L.A.'s Laugh Factory, he decided to hurl a slew of lame-brained racial slurs at some African-American hecklers in the audience, all the while seemingly to completely lose touch with reality. 

Entertainment Factor: While racism and bigotry is certainly no laughing matter, making fun of racists and bigots is. Thus, a crude video of Michael's onstage crack-up became the most talked-about clip on YouTube within days.

Current Status: In an effort to save face, former co-star Jerry Seinfeld cajoled him into doing a via-satellite apology on Late Night With David Letterman. Unfortunately, the tense clip only served to obscure the matter more. In July 2007, he announced his "retirement" from comedy, a statement which garnered more laughs than his jokes ever had.

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