Less than a year after admitting to sexual misconduct, including with women he worked with, Louis C.K. has made his return to stand-up comedy.
While many predicted he would come back to the stage at some point, there remains surprise to see him try it so soon. Reports from those who attended the unannounced set on Sunday night, at the Comedy Cellar in New York, describe a mostly appreciative audience, although there were also several women in the front who sat stone-faced throughout.
The set, which is said to have featured an awkward joke about rape whistles being unclean and no mention of his misconduct, also received negative reactions on Twitter, from celebrities and non-celebs alike.
A) You know how many talented women and POC comics are knocking on doors trying to get some time in front of audiences or powerful people in this business? And Louis just gets to glide back in on his own terms? Gosh, does it payoff to be in the boys club..the white boys club https://t.co/hewlglA2a7
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) August 28, 2018
B) I'm so used to the boys club in comedy things like this don't shock me…but that doesn't mean situations like this don't make me angry and frustrated for the people who have struggled to be heard and seen in a business that appreciate diversity.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) August 28, 2018
D) And they also cover up for each other. It's a sick, cruel cycle and right now I can only imagine what the survivors of Louis' predation are thinking. All I know is we should all be outraged…the boys club won again…
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) August 28, 2018
E) Louis just went on a long vacation and didn't do anything to show that he has reformed/changed. He's a multi-millionaire who finally got some sleep after working nonstop for years. This is how we are making people are paying penance in the #MeToo era?
Fucking pathetic.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) August 28, 2018
I knew he’d be back, but I honestly gave him too much credit; I really thought he’d just drop an hour set, Horace & Pete-style, and most of it would be about what happened and what he “learned” from it and so forth. But naw?
— Paul F. Tompkins (@PFTompkins) August 28, 2018
I think we should be asking women, most especially the women in comedy, how they feel about this instead of explaining what should or shouldn’t be allowed. Deferral to women in a moment like this is what allyship looks like, Michael. https://t.co/jGwYyV0cAq
— Amber Tamblyn (@ambertamblyn) August 28, 2018
The more I think about Louis CK just strolling onto a stage to do a set, the angrier I get.
— roxane gay (@rgay) August 29, 2018
If Louis CK had jerked off in front of most of the dudes currently defending Louis CK, they would have murdered him and then gotten off with a gay panic defense.
— Siobhan Thompson (@vornietom) August 28, 2018
I’m still on the same shampoo bottle as when louis ck’s time out started
— Sarah Lazarus (@sarahclazarus) August 28, 2018
louis ck getting a standing ovation for dropping in to a comedy club less than a year after admitting to sexual misconduct tells you all you need to know about how society applauds powerful men for doing less than the minimum of decency
— Aparna Nancherla (@aparnapkin) August 28, 2018
If Louis CK funded a national tour featuring all the comedians he exposed himself to — didn't show up, didn't give interviews about, just cut the check and handed over the spotlight — that would be punk as fuck.
— Daniel Abraham (@AbrahamHanover) August 29, 2018
A report from ABC follows, which includes an interview with the club’s owner, Noam Dworman, who told The Hollywood Reporter he learned the comedian had performed earlier at a club in Long Island, Governor’s of Levittown, before deciding to also go to the Comedy Cellar on a whim.