REX/Shutterstock
Comedian Louis C.K. has faced an avalanche of criticism on Twitter since dropping in at New Yorks famed Comedy Cellar on Sunday night for a surprise 15-minute set.
The outrage over the comedian re-taking the stage after nine months of seclusion included scathing comments from industry figures like Kathy Griffin, who knows a bit about controversy and comedy. Critics of C.K.s return — who, naturally, soon spiraled into sparring matches with opponents defending the comedians right to seek redemption — argue its way too soon for a comeback, if such a thing can even be possible. (See a selection of tweets below.)
But the online storm reveals the degree to which Hollywood is still wrestling with that issue almost a year after the #MeToo movement began. Not many A-list names waded into the Twitter fray. Deadline reached out to several people on the front lines. Anita Hill, who heads the Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace, declined to comment to Deadline. A rep from TimesUp did likewise. Since Louis C.K. had already walked away from deals with Netflix and Universal and fired most of his entire team of reps last fall, there wasnt an obvious list of people who would feel pressured to weigh in, especially in the waning days of August heading into a holiday weekend.
Unlike older stars who have been brought low in various ways — everyone from Bill Cosby to Woody Allen to Dustin Hoffman — C.K. could theoretically still have a lot more to say depending on how things unfold. At age 50, he had been in peak professional form before admitting to “irresponsibly” coercing five young female comedians into repeatedly watching him masturbate.
Once the string of incidents came to light last fall in a New York Times story, the comedian issued a long statement promising to “step back and take a long time to listen” to women. A film he directed and starred in, I Love You, Daddy was indefinitely shelved on the eve of its release. The vitriol greeting C.K.s attempted comeback has seen digital media — the very arena he has used so effectively to disrupt the normal channels of TV distribution and concert ticketing — become his biggest obstacle.
This episode has followed reports that Aziz Ansari is back doing stand-up and Matt Lauer told fans in a Manhattan restaurant that hed soon “be back on TV.” While Lauer was ousted from NBC News over a spate of sexual harassment claims, Ansaris brush with #MeToo was comparatively mild. with the Master of None creator facing scrutiny over a post on Babe.net by a woman who went on a date with him and said she came to view the encounter as sexual assault. (He insisted any of their sexual contact was consensual.)
Unlike the litany of #MeToo cases involving criminal allegations or workplace cultures off the rails, the Ansari story was left open to interpretation, with one New York Times writer describing it as “insidious attempt … to criminalize awkward, gross and entitled sex.”
On stage during his initial shows after the article forced a withdrawal from the spotlight, Ansari hasnt included any discussion of the #MeToo movement in his sets, according to many first-hand accounts. Neither did C.K.
And yet, what unites all of these cases is the core question they raise about the nature of redemption in the era of #MeToo. In the hothouse environment of Twitter, there is not much room for nuanced consideration of that weighty matter. When comedian Michael Ian Black staked out a position on Twitter that Louis C.K. should be given a second chance, he faced a backlash so intense that hours later he was taking a few steps backward.
“People have to be allowed to serve their time and move on with their lives,” he wrote. “I dont know if its been long enough, or his career will recover, or if people will have him back, but Im happy to see him try.”
Here is a sampling of the commentary, beginning with Griffins tweets:
A) You know how many talented women and POC comics are knocking on doors trying to get some time in front of audiences or powerful people in this business? And Louis just gets to glide back in on his own terms? Gosh, does it payoff to be in the boys club..the white boys club https://t.co/hewlglA2a7
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) August 28, 2018
C) Just like executives at major companies have golf..which is where business gets done, men get promotions, but people who don't golf are left out…in the comedy business male comics hang out with each other and cover for each other. They write jokes, give each other gigs
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) August 28, 2018
E) Louis just went on a long vacation and didn't do anything to show that he has reformed/changed. He's a multi-millionaire who finally got some sleep after working nonstop for years. This is how we are making people are paying penance in the #MeToo era?
Fucking pathetic.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) August 28, 2018
louis ck getting a standing ovation for dropping in to a comedy club less than a year after admitting to sexual misconduct tells you all you need to know about how society applauds powerful men for doing less than the minimum of decency
— Aparna Nancherla (@aparnapkin) August 28, 2018
Can you imagine the bank you're working at hiring back the guy who jacked off in front of women without their consent because it had been like, a year or something?
— Bris Farley (@IanKarmel) August 28, 2018
The #metoo movement is incredibly powerful and important and vital. One next step, among many steps, has to be figuring out a way for the men who are caught up in it to find redemption.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) August 28, 2018
Will take heat for this, but people have to be allowed to serve their time and move on with their lives. I don't know if it's been long enough, or his career will recover, or if people will have him back, but I'm happy to see him try. https://t.co/QmqdGJnIjy
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) August 28, 2018
Comedian Louis C.K.
Returned to the stage for a day.
He came and he went
Without asking consent,
Which is, as established, his way.— Limericking (@Limericking) August 28, 2018
[contf]
[contfnew]
Deadline
[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]
