He was ranking fourth on 2017 list of best stand-up comedy of all times. In addition to stand-up comedy, he was also directing short film and two features 'Tomorrow Night' (1998) and 'Pootie Tang' (2001).
He also played the role of a supporting actor in films like 'David O', 'Blue Jasmine', 'American Hustle' and many more. He has also created, directed and starred in 'Louie’, an Emmy Award Winning semi-autobiographical comedy-drama series, aired on FX from 2010-2015.
He was admitted to several incidents of sexual misconduct in 2017, which paused the release of his 2017 film 'I Love You, Daddy’ and in addition, also halted his career.
But then, in 2018 Louis C.K. had returned back to Stand-up comedy and had announced an International tour in 2019. Recently in 2020, Louis C.K. had released his come back special, 'Sincerely Louis C.K.’ on his website.
2017: Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Around 2015, rumors regarding the personal life of Louis C.K. started doing rounds on various social media platforms.
It started with the comedian, Roseanne Barr who informed in an interview about hearing stories about C.K. like “locking the door and masturbating in front of women comics and writers”, while she wasn’t sure about his sexual misconduct.
Two years later, around September 2017, comedian Tig Notaro had said in an interview that C.K. should address the rumors of his sexual impropriety Including the unspecified incident that occurred between herself and C.K.
But then Louis had dismissed all the sexual allegations and rumors put against him saying that they are rumors and that is all.
But then later, around November 2017, the distributor of Louis C.K.’s upcoming film 'I Love You, Daddy', The Orchard, had cancelled the New York premiere of the film due to unexpected circumstances.
Later on the same day, 'The Times' had published allegations of sexual misconduct against Louis by five women, Including comedy duo Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov.
The comedy duo had claimed that during the US comedy arts festival 2002, they were invited by C.K. to his hotel room where he asked them if he could take out his penis.
According to them, he had then removed all his clothing and began to masturbate in front of them. The duo had claimed that they initially laughed but later after coming out of the room they called ImprovOlympics founder Charna Halpern and relayed their experiences.
Also, an allegation was also made by comedian Abby Schachner who said that during a telephonic conversation at 2003, when she had invited him to one of her performances, she could hear him masturbate.
In another instance, comedian Rebecca Corry had described how in 2005, on the set of a television pilot, C.K. had asked for her permission to accompany her to her dressing room so that he could masturbate in front of her.
Schachner and Corry, both had informed that C.K. reached out to them years later and had apologized to them for his behaviour in the past.
While he initially refused to answer the allegations against him in public, later on November, Louis C.K. had admitted to his behaviour and had stated that, “the power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly”.
Consequences Faced By Louis C.K.
Due to the 2017-scandal, Louis C.K. had suffered many set backs with a loss of total income of $35 million. FX Network, Netflix, and HBO cut their ties with C.K. and removed all his content from their services.
He was also replaced by Patton Oswalt in the film 'The Secret Life of Pets 2’. In addition, The Disney Channel also removed him, redubbing his character's voice in 'Gravity Falls’ by someone else.
2018 – Present : Return to Stand - Up Comedy
On August 2018, Louis C.K. had made an unannounced appearance at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan, New York for which he received an ovation from the audience and had performance a typical set without making any reference to the sexual controversy.
While many comedians criticized him, many of them has supported his right to continue.
In October 2019, Louis C.K. had announced to the subscribers of his website, in an e-mail regarding the International tour of his new material.
And in January 2020, he had performed an unannounced set for which he has received a standing ovation for the eight annual benefit show for late comedian Patrice O'Neal, which is a yearly benefit organized by the comedian Bill Burr.
On April 2020, C.K. had self-released a new stand-up titled 'Sincerely Louis C.K’, which he had released through his website without any advance notice.
In the credits, he had thanked various people, including his girlfriend Blanche Gardin and dedicated the special to his mother who died in 2019. This drew divided response from audiences.
In addition, Louis C.K. also donated $30,000 to the wait staff as a part of a GoFundMe program called 'Tip Your Wait Staff' at Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village during the COVID 19 Pandemic. He also donated $10,000 in April 2020 and an another $20,000 15 days later.
On August 4th 2020, he was also invited by his long-time friend Dave Chappelle to join in an stand-up series, “An Intimate Socially Distanced Affair” at the Worrig Pavilion in Ohio during the COVID 19 pandemic in the United States.
Written by – Sandhya R
Edited by – Adrija Saha
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