“I retired to get away from showbusiness”

Michael Richards deliberately “cancelled” himself with his infamous racist comedy club rant so he could escape showbusiness.

The 74-year-old “Seinfeld” actor made his fortune and world fame playing Kramer on the hit sitcom, but was disgraced and blacklisted from the entertainment industry after being filmed unleashing a tirade of racist insults during a 2006 stand-up show at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles.

Michael has now told Hoda Kotb, 59, on ‘Today’ that he believes the incident was a case of self-sabotage: “Anger took hold of me and I canceled myself. Take a Exodus. Walk away from show business and see what was going on inside me to be so despicable that night, lose my temper and suffer.

He added that he had to forgive himself for the incident: “I have to move on, be very honest about it. »

Michael also explained to People how the root of his rage that sparked his racist outburst was his discovery that he was conceived as a result of sexual assault, with his mother first putting him up for adoption before changing of opinion.

He said: “It’s definitely something I’ve had to examine over the years to discover how my anger arises from a feeling of inferiority.

“I have a character, and it comes from that undesirability, of not being acceptable, of not being understood, of not being good enough to be liked or even loved.”

Michael also admitted that even when he was welcomed into the entertainment industry, his insecurities led him to turn down major opportunities.

He added: “I said no to the offer of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I didn’t feel worthy.

“I said no to hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’ twice because I didn’t feel good enough.”