Backlash against Hollywood amid recent revelations of pervasive sexual harassment has been exacerbated by the industry’s longstanding tradition of sanctimony. As a representative sampling, look no further than Harvey Weinstein’s 2009 claim that “Hollywood has the best moral compass,” which aged about as poorly as Louis C.K.’s stand-up bits on masturbation.
In an article examining C.K.’s network of celebrity enablers, Marlow Stern of The Daily Beast narrowed in on comedian Aziz Ansari. Stern’s passage on Ansari, whom he interviewed in 2015, provides the apotheosis of Hollywood’s newly-illuminated failure to live by its own emphatic progressivism. I’m excerpting Stern’s recalling of his interview below, where the comedian reflected on his experiences learning about the ubiquity of sexual harassment.
[Ansari] continued: “I thought it was interesting that this is happening, yet so many people are unaware of it. And the problem is people aren’t talking about it. What I’ve learned, as a guy, is to just ask women questions and listen to what they have to say. Go to your group of female friends and ask them about times they’ve experienced sexism at their job, and you’ll get blown away by the things they tell you. You’ll think, ‘What the fuck? This is way darker than anything I’d imagined.’”
I then proceeded to ask him about the sexual misconduct allegations against Louis C.K., a sometime mentor of Ansari’s. The two share a manager, Dave Becky, and booking agent, Mike Berkowitz — two of the more powerful figures in the comedy world, who also represent Kevin Hart and a slew of other top-shelf comics.
“I’m not talking about that,” Ansari brusquely replied.
Therein lies Hollywood’s problem.
Stern also highlighted the reaction of “Parks and Recreation” creator Mike Schur, who admitted to having cast C.K. on the show after hearing rumors of his behavior. Schur’s show, for what it’s worth, often made an issue of sexism in the workplace and its protagonist, Leslie Knope, is a champion of feminism.
“Over the years, I’ve asked a number of famous male comedians about the allegations against Louis C.K., which have been widely known since a 2012 Gawker story titled, ‘Which Beloved Comedian Likes to Force Female Comics to Watch Him Jerk Off?'” Stern noted in his article. “They’ve all either declined to comment or, in the case of Jim Gaffigan, went off the record to share their thoughts on the matter.”
For celebrities like Ansari, it’s easy to wax indignant about the scourge of sexism, signaling your own courageous resistance in the process, but more difficult to live by those standards.
As a consequence, the industry’s incessant moralizing will rightfully land with much less credibility in the future.
