Louis C.K. accused of sexual misconduct
Five women say comedian acted inappropriately; premiere canceled
Comedian-filmmaker Louis C.K., known for his edgy, sex-steeped comedy, is the latest Hollywood figure accused of sexual misconduct: Five women told The New York Times he masturbated in front of them, or tried to, without their consent.
In a story published Thursday, the
Times identified four women by name, and a fifth who was anonymous, who recount stories of C.K. crossing the line of sexual misconduct in encounters dating back more than a decade.
Chicago comedy duo Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov described how, after their big-break performance at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colo., in 2002, C.K. invited them to his hotel room for a nightcap. They thought he was joking when he asked if he could take out his penis.
“And then he really did it,” Goodman told the Times. “He proceeded to take all of his clothes off, and get completely naked, and started masturbating.”
“In 2003, Abby Schachner called C.K. to invite him to one of her shows, and during the phone conversation, she said, she could hear him masturbating as they spoke,” the Times story continued. “Another comedian, Rebecca Corry, said that while she was appearing with C.K. on a television pilot in 2005, he asked if he could masturbate in front of her. She declined.”
Corry’s allegation was confirmed by the pilot’s executive producers, Courteney Cox and David Arquette; Cox said in an email to the paper she felt “outrage and shock” about the incident.
“What happened to Rebecca on that set was awful,” Cox said in her email. They discussed curtailing the production but Corry decided to continue.
The allegations called into question whether C.K.’s comedic shtick — he’s known for his candor about his sexual hang-ups and his frequent talk about masturbation in his act — has served as a longtime cover for real misconduct.
The Times said C.K.’s publicist, Lewis Kay, said the comedian would not respond to the allegations.
The consequences of impending scandal revelations were obvious even before the Times story broke: The premiere of C.K.’s film I Love You, Daddy, scheduled for Thursday night, was canceled earlier on Thursday.
After the story, the film’s distributor, The Orchard, said: “In light of the allegations concerning Louis C.K. referenced in today’s New York Times, we are canceling tonight’s premiere of I Love You,
Daddy. There is never a place for the behavior detailed in these allegations. As a result, we are giving careful consideration to the timing and release of the film and continuing to review the situation.”
USA TODAY reviewer Andrea Mandell said the film, which C.K. self-funded and filmed in secret, made her feel sick when she saw it at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
The film is about a New York TV writer’s flummoxed reaction to a budding relationship between his 17-year-old daughter (Chloë Grace Moretz) and a 68year-old filmmaker who is his idol (John Malkovich). Instead of shutting this duo down, C.K.’s character makes a passionate speech defending a relationship that could amount to statutory rape.