Home WebMail Friday, November 1, 2024, 09:30 AM | Calgary | -4.8°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Posted: 2017-11-09T23:06:13Z | Updated: 2017-11-10T16:37:46Z

There are many kinds of terrible apologies, but Louis C.K. might have offered the worst kind: A self-excusing non-apology in which you casually reveal all the other horrible crap youve been doing.

On Thursday afternoon, The New York Times finally dropped a story confirming long-circulating rumors that comedian Louis C.K. has been accused by multiple female colleagues of masturbating in front of them without their consent.

Through a publicist, he declined to comment for the article, but it does contain an apology. In 2009, several years after he shocked comedian Rebecca Corry by asking her to let him masturbate in front of her while they were working together on a show, he called her to say he was sorry for, well, something else.

When he phoned her, according to the Times, he said was sorry for shoving her in a bathroom. Ms. Corry replied that he had never done that, but had instead asked to masturbate in front of her.

Wait, what? Lets rewind for a second: He said was sorry for shoving her in a bathroom.

The conclusion here is pretty obvious: Louis C.K. shoved someone into a bathroom, even if he couldnt remember exactly whom he shoved. Corry told the Times that the weirdly incorrect apology made her think there were other moments of misconduct (um, yeah), but the question of whom Louis C.K. did shove in a bathroom is not pursued.

Nonetheless, if Corrys recollection is accurate, somewhere out there is at least one woman who was shoved in a bathroom by Louis C.K.

Few sexual misconduct exposs involve men who tell on themselves so clumsily as Louis C.K. The comedians schtick, to begin with, is built largely on his self-identified perverted, sexual thoughts and fondness for masturbation.

Its really a male problem, not being able to control your constant sexual impulse, he joked at one performance .

His latest project, a film called I Love You, Daddy originally slated for release later this month, has already been criticized for foregrounding sexually predatory behavior. The movie features Louis C.K. as a TV writer who becomes concerned when his 17-year-old daughter (Chloe Grace Moretz) is pursued by a much older filmmaker with an unsettling reputation (John Malkovich), who Louis C.K.s character reveres. A character in the movie also reportedly simulates masturbation in front of other people.

Louis C.K.s compulsive need to turn his own alleged misbehavior into fodder for his wildly successful career is one, very disturbing thing. But even in his private apologies, he cant help but admit to things he wasnt asked to admit to. This is the behavior of a man who is practically begging to be called out for his misdeeds and yet, as the Times makes clear, hes been protected for years. His manager, Dave Becky, reportedly warned women not to talk openly about their nasty experiences with his client. Corry, whod been working on a pilot with Louis C.K., was asked to make the terrible choice of dropping the incident, or risk being cast as the cause of a production shutdown. When Defamer published an account of the Louis C.K. rumors in 2015 , it barely caused a blip in the comedy landscape his career continued to bloom.

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

Like many non-apologies, Louis C.K.s performatively woke stand-up, public grappling with his sexual impulses and watered-down expressions of remorse to his victims would all function to ease his own conscience rather than the pain of the women he hurt. After the incident on set, he told Corry, according to the Times, that he misread her signals. (Corry said that Louis C.K. did confirm her account of the time he propositioned her, once she reminded him.) He told another woman in a Facebook message that he had been in a bad time in my life when he masturbated on the phone with her, without her consent. And of course, all of his comedy says, Sorry, but I cant help that Im a man. I cant help that I want to do things that hurt you.

If anything, Louis C.K. seems to have wanted to inoculate himself against future repercussions by privately apologizing and publicly copping to his own perverted impulses, not to mention supporting female comics like Tig Notaro and Pamela Adlon. Instead, he keeps giving us more evidence of his alleged transgressions.

Like shoving someone in a bathroom. The allegations in the Times story masturbating in front of younger or less powerful women in his industry are deeply disturbing, but only Louis C.K.s reported slip-up hints at a forcible assault. If his own words are any evidence, the Times report is likely just the beginning.

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost