Like it or not, the next phase of #MeToo seems to be upon us.
Though it’s been just under a year since the movement’s inception, some of the high-profile men that #MeToo exposed already appear to think it’s comeback season. And that raises an important and inevitable question: How long in exile is enough?
Louis C.K. popped into the Comedy Cellar for a 15-minute set on Sunday, where his performance sounds, almost jarringly, to have copped a business-as-usual tone. Yet he was greeted with an ovation by the audience.
Recall the allegations the comedian admitted were true involved him cornering young female comics and masturbating in front of them. And over a prolonged period of time. The immediate professional consequences for him were harsh, but not too harsh, given that this all came to light less than 10 months ago.
In contrast, several of his victims have said they’ve faced years of career impact for opening up about their experiences with the comedian before 2017.
With so many of these cases necessarily playing out in the court of public opinion rather than the court of law, there’s no judge to hand down specific sentences. That task falls on us. And there’s no rule book or set of criteria or formal authority to guide along the process. Certainly the punishments should be relative to the severity of the crimes, but such judgments are still subjective.
Complicating this phase of the movement further is the reasonable disagreements people have had over what constitutes a #MeToo case: For instance, most agreed the allegations against Aziz Ansari in January did not amount to sexual assault, but the story still suggested he was, perhaps, less likable in reality than his affable media persona. Ansari was back to performing by May, but he made waves this month for headlining shows in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Based on the information available, Ansari is no Kevin Spacey. Nor is he comparable to Louis C.K. But then again, where do C.K.’s offenses fall on the spectrum from Ansari to Weinstein? Given that he admitted to the allegations, should his sentence be lighter? Or heavier?
It feels way too soon for a Louis C.K. comeback, in my opinion. But when should that feeling dissipate? Or should it ever?
There are no easy answers to these questions, though it seems we’re about to be pressed to come up with them.
