It was only five years ago that a group of women came to the New York Times with allegations of sexual misconduct against Louis CK. The award-winning performer had repeatedly asked his fellow comics to watch him masturbate in hotel rooms and on TV sets across a period of more than a decade.
‘He proceeded to take all of his clothes off, and get completely naked, and started masturbating,’ comedian Min Goodman, who went through the ordeal alongside her stage partner Julia Wolov, told NYT. ‘We were paralyzed.’
Yet last night, much to the shock of Twitter, CK was awarded his third Grammy for his latest comedy album Sincerely Louis C.K, in which he references the allegations. ‘I like jerking off,’ he tells the crowd of his actions. ‘I don’t like being alone, that’s all I can tell you. I get lonely, it’s just sad. I like company. I like to share…
‘I’m good at it, too,’ he adds. ‘If you’re good at juggling, you wouldn’t do it alone in the dark. You’d gather folks and amaze them.’
Other than briefly removing himself from the public eye and losing his production deal with FX, CK has faced no repercussions for masturbating in front of numerous women and mis-using a position of power that made them unlikely to speak out against his actions.
So, when he was awarded his latest gong for Best Comedy Album on Sunday the internet (rightfully) went into meltdown. ‘Everyone hates women,’ said TV writer Jen Kirkman. ‘Remember when male comedians this week were like “Chris Rock got slapped!! Comedy is in danger!” They never gave a f*ck about those of us in comedy who were always in danger.’
‘We are nowhere close to a reckoning on sexual misconduct, even just in the narrow slice of professional contexts,’ added Guardian journalist David M Perry. ‘Yes, it should have destroyed Louis CK’s career. He should have no career anymore. But, instead, Louis CK, who masturbated in front of women without consent...just won best comedy album at the Grammys. MeToo has, in fact, not gone too far,’ he continued. ‘It never went far enough. We’re in the backlash phase now. But we should keep fighting.’
Pointing out the absurdity of who cancel culture lets bounce back, a former CK fan @iron_eliza wrote: ‘I am really, REALLY not okay with whoever decided to UN-cancel Louis CK. No. Not ever. Did he serve time?... NO.’
Fellow comedian and Feel Good actress Mae Martin wrote: ‘Can’t think of a joke about this, because it’s not funny to me at the moment. I’m sorry to the young comics he assaulted, who lost so much and have to see this headline today / everyone who’s had a similar experience because of a spineless response from our community to assault.’
Meanwhile, Sarah Keyworth added: ‘CK winning a Grammy for best comedy album is an insult to all female/non-binary comedians everywhere. It’s a message to us that our industry doesn’t care if we are abused by the men we work alongside, especially if those men are a cash cow. We should be furious.’
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