After as many as nine months of silence, Louis C.K. made his first surprise drop-in at a comedy club after it was revealed he masturbated in front of and harassed at least five women years ago. Now, many of Louis C.K.’s friends are standing up to say – when will his suffering end?
“Louis did something wrong, we can all agree on that,” said one longtime fan. “But he just went through nine whole months of not using his influence to masturbate in front of unwilling women. Probably.”
Taking a moment to pause, he added: “It’s not like he’s done anything bad in like, almost a year.”
“When the news about Louis first came out, I was as mad at him as the next guy— which is to say, a little mad,” said one longtime collaborator. “But, when you watch a man spend month after month not performing while his victims are free to pursue careers in the industry that blackballed them, it’s like, when are you ready to admit that he hasn’t abused a single woman in literally nine months? How can you not say he deserves a second chance?”
“He’s been doing everything right: hiding out for almost a year until he thinks enough people will forget what he did,” says another working comedian. “It’s time to give him the comeback he deserves: a complete return to the power he already had and abused and never really apologized for abusing.”
“Look – did he do something wrong? Yes. Did he admit to it? Yes. Has it been nine months? Yes!” said another fan. “How much longer does he have to go not masturbating in front of people and torpedoing their careers and then lying about it for you people to shut up and move on?”
“I can understand why the women he harassed would think it’s too soon for him to come back to the stage,” says one former agent of Louis’ return. “I think Louis should have waited one, maybe two more weeks to perform. The women whose careers he ruined have to be over it by now, right?”
“For someone who was at the height of his career — the height of his power, the height of his influence, the height of his ability to masturbate in front of unwilling women — to just drop everything as soon as the accusations went public, that shows that he is a man with integrity,” says one New York comedy producer. “Plus he’s gone like nine whole months not doing anything wrong and I don’t see anybody giving him credit for that.”
“I think it would be a shame to let the greatest comedian of our generation – the man who made an art form out of masturbation jokes – be sidelined just for cornering women and masturbating at them.”
