JIM CARREY - CARREY LENDS SUPPORT TO RICHARDS

Hollywood funnyman JIM CARREY has defended troubled comedian MICHAEL RICHARDS after his racist rant in a Los Angeles comedy club last year (17NOV06). The former SEINFELD star MICHAEL RICHARDS hit headlines last November for repeated use of the word "n**ger" during a foul-mouthed tirade aimed at two African-American hecklers at the Laugh Factory in California. But the 45-year-old BRUCE ALMIGHTY star, who knew Richards from his early days on the Canadian comedy circuit, believes he should be forgiven for his behaviour because he never intended any real harm. Carrey says, "He doesn't hate anybody, man. I know that if there was an African-American fallen in the street, he would pick them up and help them out. He was just super-super angry and bitter at that moment. "When you've got a lot of seething anger inside of you, and suddenly somebody triggers it, you pick up the biggest rock you can find. "But I look at it and go, y'know, it's a hard lesson, but (Richards) is going to learn a s**tload about himself through it, and it would be a drag if people wrote him off as a result of it."