Transcript
Hey guys. Beija here for Complex.
For the past month, both men and women have been coming forward with dark and twisted stories, where prominent figures abuse their power and standing for sexual gain. After the New York Times broke the story on Harvey Weinstein’s sex scandal, it has since motivated victims of abuse to come forward and expose their abusers’ actions. The predators’ professions range from actors, to politicians, and even doctors, and the latest added to the lengthy list of offenders is comedian, Louis C.K.
The New York Times released an investigative piece on Thursday afternoon, where five women came forward to detail sexual misconduct by Louis (show headline an NYT logo). Dana Min Goodman, Julia Wolov, Abby Schachner, Rebecca Corry, and a fifth who asked to remain anonymous, recounted details of C.K. either asking them to watch him masturbate, masturbating in front of them, or masturbating over phone calls.
Louis C.K. has since apologized to all of the women after “The Times” released this detailed report and said:
“What I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn’t a question. It’s a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly.”
Louis C.K. is an extremely powerful figure in comedy and his apology, as lackluster and self-aggrandizing as it was, will NEVER be able to repair the damage that he caused his victims. With great accomplishments under his belt like selling out Madison Square Garden eight times to creating an Emmy-winning TV series—it makes sense how other comedians in his field look up to him and his success. But unfortunately, C.K. used his stature to put women in very uncomfortable and compromising positions and the details are disgusting to say the least.
Back in 2002, a Chicago comedy duo, Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov, just wrapped up their performance at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. Louis invited Goodman and Wolov to his hotel room for a nightcap after their late-night show, and the two women looked forward to a celebratory gathering with someone they truly admired.
Once the two comedians entered the room, C.K. asked if he could “take out his penis”. Goodman and Wolov initially laughed it off because they thought he was playing, but then he “really did it” and they felt “paralyzed”.
“He proceeded to take all of his clothes off, and get completely naked, and started masturbating.”
One year later, Louis C.K. would continue his creepy behavior. Abby Schachner, a writer, illustrator, and performer also looked up to Louis’ work. Schachner’s boyfriend at the time was a comedy writer who had worked with C.K. Schachner told The New York Times that she called Louis back in 2003 to ask him to attend one of her shows. During the phone call, Schachner said the tone switched to “unprofessional and inappropriate” where Louis was breathing heavily and talking softly detailing sexual fantasies” and could be heard masturbating during their conversation.
"I definitely wasn't encouraging it. You want to believe it's not happening."
In 2005, Rebecca Corry, a comedian, writer, and actress took a big step in her career when she was working on a television pilot that Louis was a guest star on. Corry was walking to the set and C.K. approached her and asked:
“If we could go to my dressing room so he could masturbate in front of me.”
Corry was completely shocked at the unprofessional request and pointed out to C.K. that he had a daughter and a pregnant wife and she recalled:
“His face got red and he told me he had issues.”
The fifth woman, who asked to remain anonymous, worked in the production department on the Chris Rock show in the late ‘90s, and said that Louis “repeatedly” made similar masturbation requests. The woman said she was in her early 20s and went along with his requests, but later questioned his behavior:
“It was something that I knew was wrong. I think the big piece of why I said yes was because of the culture. He abused his power.”
A co-worker at “The Chris Rock Show”, who also requested that his identity not be revealed, confirmed to “The Times” that the woman shared her experience with him shortly after it took place.
What’s odd about all of these allegations is that they draw parallels to Louis’ comedy where he jokes about sexual hang-ups, rape, and masturbation through his stand-up acts. Some of the women feel that Louis used his storytelling as a tactic to cover up his abuse.
Louis C.K.’s new film, ‘I Love You, Daddy’ was scheduled to release next week and now has been cancelled due to the disturbing news surfacing.
That’s all the news for now, but for any more updates on Louis C.K., be sure to subscribe to Complex on Youtube today. For Complex News, I’m Beija Velez.
