PUBLIC MUST NOT GIVE PREDATORS FREE PASS
Allowing comebacks sends bad message
The dust hasn’t even settled yet, but many of the powerful men accused of sexual misconduct against women in the #MeToo movement are already creeping out of the woodwork in desperate bids to make a comeback.
And shame on us for letting them.
The latest is comedian Louis C.K., who cracked jokes to an adoring crowd at a New York City comedy club Sunday night. Ex-U.S. Sen. Al Franken (DMinn.) said last month he hasn’t ruled out a political comeback. Fallen “Today” show host Matt Lauer recently assured some doting female fans he’d “be back on TV.”
Celebrity chef Mario Batali and ex-CBS newsman Charlie Rose have reportedly tested the waters, too. And the list goes on.
There had long been rumors of sexual misconduct by Louis C.K. He denied them but finally ’fessed up last November after the New York Times published a disturbing account of five female colleagues who described how the comedian had masturbated in front of them.
On Sunday, just nine months after the scandalous report, Louis C.K. was back in the limelight, performing a 15 minute standup set at New York City’s Comedy Cellar. He wasn’t heckled. In fact, club owner Noam Dworman told The Hollywood Reporter he only received one complaint from a patron. Really?
So who exactly decides whether these men are allowed to make a comeback?
“We the people do,” women’s rights advocate Wendy Murphy told me yesterday. “If we can’t bring our values to bear on these men, in a way that reflects zero tolerance for what they did, then we deserve these men to be in these positions of power.”
Louis C.K.’s appearance was a surprise, but how empowering would it have been if the women — and men — in the audience had booed him off the stage? Or better yet, had walked out of the club.
Franken resigned in January after a slew of women accused him of inappropriate groping and kissing. When asked last month if he’d run again, Franken told a Minnesota TV station he hasn’t “ruled it out.” A few months earlier, in April, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told Newsweek of Franken, “he’s had two acts and he’s still going to have a third.”
Lauer was at a steak house recently, Page Six reported this week, when a group of women told him they missed him. “I’ve been busy being a dad. But don’t worry.
I’ll be back on TV,” said Lauer, who was canned in November for inappropriate sexual behavior.
These men can attempt comebacks, but it’s the public that holds the power now.
“If we can’t get it right, and we start buying tickets or watching their shows, then it’s on us,” Murphy said. “If they do end up back in a position of celebrity or power, and women buy tickets, shame on them.”
She’s right.