Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
■ With his career imploding over allegations of sexual misconduct, comedian
Louis C.K. confessed Friday to masturbating in front of women and expressed remorse for wielding his influence “irresponsibly.” The comedian said in a statement that the harassment claims by five women detailed in a New York Times report published Thursday “are true.” “I can hardly wrap my head around the scope of hurt I brought on them,” he said. “There is nothing about this that I forgive myself for,” he wrote. “And I have to reconcile it with who I am. Which is nothing compared to the task I left them with.” The comedian also apologized to the cast and crew of several projects he has been working on, his family, children and friends, his manager and the FX network, among others. The 438-word statement ends with the comedian vowing to stop talking and leave the spotlight, stating “I will now step back and take a long time to listen.” The comedian stepped forward on the same day the independent film distributor The Orchard said it will scrap the release of C.K.’s film I Love You, Daddy. C.K. has already been edited out of the forthcoming HBO benefit Night of Too Many Stars and his work is being scrubbed from the cable network’s vaults. More fallout came Friday when Netflix said it will not produce a second planned stand-up special starring the comedian, citing his “unprofessional and inappropriate behavior.”
■ British magazine Grazia U.K. has apologized to Lupita Nyong’o after the actress accused it of altering her hair on its front cover “to fit a more Eurocentric notion” of beauty. The Academy Award-winner sent out tweets featuring before-and-after images, saying the magazine “edited out and smoothed” her hair. She added the hashtag “dtmh (don’t touch my hair).” On Instagram, the Kenya-raised star of 12 Years a Slave and Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi, said “there is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women’s complexion, hair style and texture.” On Friday, the magazine said that it “apologized unreservedly to Lupita Nyong’o.” It said it had not altered the images itself or asked the photographer to do so, and “is committed to representing diversity throughout its pages.”