While most of the media were either slaving over — or digesting Thanksgiving dinner — publicist du jour Howard Rubenstein was working overtime trying to repair his newest client Michael Richards' shattered image. The former Seinfeld actor and current symbol of bigotry in America appeared on Rev. Jesse Jackson's radio show on Sunday [MP3s below] saying he was "shattered" by last weekend's N-word-laced tirade at the Laugh Factory. However unbelievably, Richards said he had not used the language before:

"That's why I'm shattered by it. The way this came through me was like a freight train. After it was over, when I went to look for them, they had gone. And I've tried to meet them, to talk to them, to get some healing."

Meanwhile, the NAACP isn't buying the part of Richards' initial apology on Letterman. "His declaration that he is not a racist is indicative of the type of denial that too often accompany racist rhetoric," the NAACP said in statement.

Source online editor Cedric "Big Ced" Thorton (via the Industry Cosign) weighed in over the weekend: "When Mel Gibson 'performed' his Anti-Jewish rants, the Jewish Entertainment community was up in arms and front and center to call for Mel Gibson's head, yet, as of this writing, I've heard nothing from the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Russell Simmons, Robert Johnson, Bill Cosby or any other prominent Black."

And as with any controversy, the Richards scandal has spawned at least one dedicated Web site, kramerhater.com.

Michael Richards on Rev. Jesse Jackson's 'Keep Hope Alive' radio show, Sunday, November 26, 2006: