Sarah Silverman's Encounter with Michael Richards on the Seinfeld Set

Introduction

Sarah Silverman and Seinfeld are synonymous with American comedy, but Silverman didn't enjoy her time as a guest star on the show about nothing, and it was all because of Michael Richards.

Emily (Sarah Silverman) glaring at Kramer (Michael Richards) in a diner in Seinfeld

Seinfeld centers on the mundane day-to-day happenings of comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his friends, and the main characters' love lives are often a focal point. Jerry and co. rarely stay in relationships for very long, which means that Seinfeld has had many guest stars playing romantic interests. The NBC sitcom ran from 1989-1998, and many of these guest-starring actors appeared on the show before they became famous.

Kramer (Michael Richards) and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) at a video store in Seinfeld

One of those actors was Sarah Silverman. She started her comedy career as a standup in 1992 before being cast on SNL, though Silverman was fired from Saturday Night Live after just one season. After several guest-starring roles on shows including Seinfeld, Star Trek Voyager, and JAG, Silverman broke out with her own Comedy Central series, The Sarah Silverman Program, running from 2007-2010. From there, Silverman got meatier parts in both comedies and dramas, earning a SAG nomination for playing troubled protagonist Laney Brooks in I Smile Back.

Sarah Silverman's Encounter with Michael Richards

Sarah Silverman appeared on Seinfeld season 8, episode 12 'The Money' as Emily, Kramer's (Michael Richards) latest girlfriend. In their storyline, Kramer can't sleep next to Emily because of her 'Jimmy legs' (restless leg syndrome), so he sells her on him not staying at her apartment overnight. However, when a misunderstanding causes Kramer to think he's experienced a home invasion, he wants his sleeping arrangement with Emily back. But when Silverman flubbed a line — she was supposed to say 'It's probably the wind' but instead said 'It's probably the rain' — Richards snapped at her. Silverman said on her podcast, The Sarah Silverman Podcast:

“This guy, Michael Richards, breaks character and just starts ripping me a new a**hole... He points to the window and he goes, ‘Do you see rain in that window? Do you see rain in that window?’ and I go, ‘No,’ and he says, ‘Then why did you say rain?’ It’s not rain. There’s no rain in that window! The line is ‘wind’!” Silverman was understandably shaken, and felt a 'lump in her throat'. She recalled being angry that Richards got away with such poor behavior because he's so beloved as Kramer. But she stood up to him the next day on the Seinfeld set. When they were filming a scene at a diner, Richards was polite, acting like nothing had happened, and trying to engage Silverman in conversation. But she refused, saying:

“And finally, I just cut him off and I say, ‘I don’t give a f**k!’... And he’s kind of stunned, and it’s like he snapped out of it a little. He understood what I was saying was, ‘You don’t talk like that and act like nothing happened. I’m not going to be one of those people that joins in and acts like nothing happened. That was s****y behavior.'

According to Silverman, Richards was then gracious to her, realizing he had crossed a line. With fences mended, the two were able to continue on a friendship, with Richards even seeking Silverman's advice for getting back into stand-up comedy. Unfortunately, this was not the only incident of Richards' abusive behavior, as since he was in the main cast of Seinfeld, he famously went on a racist tirade against audience members at one of his comedy shows in 2006.

Sarah Silverman wasn't the only co-star Michael Richards was unkind to on Seinfeld. His temper on set has been well-documented, as co-stars have commented that Richards would easily lose his cool if anyone broke character or laughed. In a making-of documentary, Elaine actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus shared how Richards' anger would only make her laugh more.

Reflections on Richards' Temper

Louis-Dreyfus and her Seinfeld co-stars seemed to enjoy their time on the show, with Louis-Dreyfus chalking up Richards' behavior to extreme dedication to his craft. She even excused getting hit in the head by Richards when he swung a bag of golf clubs too hard. And while Richards was celebrated for his physical comedy on the show, and has admitted he took things too seriously, this behavior would certainly not fly on most sets today.