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Richards to meet offended guests

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Michael Richards will apologize in person to the four black men he targeted in a tirade of racial slurs during a recent comedy club performance.

A retired judge will mediate the meeting and determine whether he should take any other action to resolve the matter, Richards’ spokesman and an attorney for the men said Friday. A cash settlement could be part of the resolution, said Howard J. Rubenstein, who represents Richards.

"My client Michael hopes to put it behind him," Rubenstein said.

A time and place for the meeting has not been set. Rubenstein complimented attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing the four comedy club patrons, for recommending the meeting.

Allred said Richards should meet with her clients "to hear the pain that he inflicted on them and to apologize to them."

She and the four men were scheduled to hold a press conference later Friday.

Richards, who played the wacky neighbour Kramer on ‘Seinfeld,’ has been on a campaign of contrition since videotaped footage of his Nov. 17 outburst at the Laugh Factory nightclub surfaced on the website TMZ.com.

He has apologized on the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s nationally syndicated radio program "Keep Hope Alive" and the "Late Show with David Letterman." He also apologized to civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Richards has said the tirade was fuelled by anger at being heckled and not bigotry.