Uggh. No heroes. I’m a huge fan of CK’s comedy, and I’ve seen him live many times, and I believe these women. Disgusting behavior (to ward off any such comments – this isn’t rape, but it’s still disgusting, it’s still violating someone’s consent, and it’s still very wrong).
I"ve heard these rumors. However what shocked me was I always thought it was Garfunkel and Oates who he jerked off in front of in a hotel room.
In so many of these cases that are coming out, it’s clear that the illicit nature is a major part of the attraction. With Spacey and Louis, a little small talk first would likely make it clear if the other person was interested. It really wouldn’t be that hard to for people like them to find someone who is actually interested in their advances. But it must be the fact that they are boldly crossing that line that is so enticing to them.
That’s pretty fucked up if true. I dig Louie’s comedy, and no one wants to hear something fucked up about someone they appreciate. I hear his movie premiere has been cancelled, so it sounds bad for Louie. I hope the women were not traumatized, and are taken seriously.
Sadly I wouldn’t rule it out at this point, though maybe somebody just conflated two different pairs of female comedians.
The common thread with these things is that some men want to violate consent. Bill Cosby didn’t want to have sex with hot young women, he wanted to have sex with unconscious hot young women. Weinstein didn’t want to bang hot young actresses, he wanted to rape hot young actresses, and intimidate them into letting him grope them, etc. Kevin Spacey didn’t want to bang hot young guys, he wanted to grope hot young guys whether they wanted it or not.
And apparently, Louis CK didn’t just want a willing partner to watch him masturbate, he wanted to force reluctant women to watch him masturbate.
These accusations have been around for years and acknowledged by many within stand-up as a well-known insider sort of thing. Louie’s response to it has been bizarre, he basically didn’t deny it but launched into this thing about how artists’ private lives should be kept separate from their work… and then he made a movie exploring that exact theme. I think he’s one of the most talented stand-up comedians we have, but I’d be shocked, based on the consistency of the allegations and on his own bizarre response, if he didn’t do what he’s been accused of doing. The movie almost seems like a snub-nose ''So what if I did? I’m still a genius" kind of provocation and I find that the grossest thing of all.
At least he’s not a pedophile, because then that whole SNL opening monolog thing would take on new meaning. I had no problem with it at the time, mind you, but I remember hearing it and thinking: Lots of people are going to freak out.
I read another interesting article about the fan base of Louis C. K. and whether they would stick with him. Some of these stars are basically becoming blacklisted and will have no career left. Louis C. K. will probably lose his show and movies but he still has the option to go on the road to perform. Now he won’t likely be playing at major venues but I would think there would still be places he could perform stand-up later down the line if things cool down in a few years. I just wonder how forgiving his audience is and whether he will be able to resume something of a career later down the line. What he did was really awful but not Spacey level downright gruesome and evil, I wonder if his fans will still be willing to pay to see his stand-up.
Does he really have to? he’s got tens of millions already, why put himself through the embarrassment of being downgraded to a club comic only.
Louie burns through money as fast as he gets it. That is the impression I’ve got from listening to interviews from him.
Honestly, if this causes him a lot of shame and destroys his career I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up committing suicide. Louie strikes me as someone barely holding onto life as it is.
I personally think he will get some counseling and find a way to incorporate this stuff into his act, and most of his audience will more or less forgive him.
Not sure how outraged I’m supposed to be about this. With Weinstein, there’s the whole “I’m the most powerful man in Hollywood and if you don’t come back to my hotel room, I’ll have you blacklisted from all of showbiz” aspect. Louis CK? Not so much. There may yet be stories where he used his career clout in such a manner, but this sounds like it happened before he was a “name” in Hollywood.
I think the “Me, too” hashtag has hit peak mundane at this point. They’ll be dragging out peccadilloes of actors no one ever gave a crap about from this point on, for doing things that traveling salesmen and jackleg preachers have been doing since the time of Chaucer.
So Louis CK is as outrageous in private as he is in public. Big shock. He was funny last week, he’s just as funny today. I don’t think his fan base will give a flying fuck about this stuff.
I’m his fan base and I give a flying fuck (and more) about this stuff, just like I gave more than a flying fuck about Bill Cosby’s shenanigans, etc.
Well, I do. Not only did he commit sexual assault (not sure on the legal term for this behavior but it’s definitely not legal) his response to the allegations was a shitty movie about how ‘‘all people are perverts’’ and we have to separate the art from the artist. It would be one thing if he apologized and got his shit together, but instead he decided to make it a centerpiece of his career. Fuck him.
As outraged as you feel about anyone engaging in disgusting coercive sexual behavior.
Help me understand why somebody does this sort of thing. Could there be some kind of diagnosable mental illness behind it?
I actually would think that a significant portion of his fan base are exactly the kind of people who would give a flying fuck about this stuff.
It’s an exhibitionist fetish and a power trip, not a mental illness.
“Coercive” implies some kind of retaliatory leverage, and at that point in his career, it’s unclear whether he had any. “Disgusting…sexual behavior” opens up another can of worms; are there legitimate, non-sexual reasons to follow a man back to his hotel room? Do these hardened (female) stand-up comics come off as naifs? I’m referring solely to the hotel room incident, the other ones sound pretty actionable, but this is heading in the opposite direction of the Weinstein-Spacey-“Powerful men whose chickens are coming home to roost” scenarios of, um, last week.