A year after the media finally confirmed long-rumored reports that comedian Louis C.K. has a habit for exposing himself and masturbating in front of female colleagues without their consent, left-wing critics have finally found something to really get enraged about: C.K. tells some pseudo-edgy jokes about lame, puritan, politically correct young people.
TMZ unearthed leaked audio from a Dec. 16 set at a Long Island comedy club in which C.K. mocks people who demand the use of gender-neutral pronouns and the survivors of the Parkland school shooting. All in all, it’s low-hanging fruit, executed lazily and, perhaps, intentionally as crassly as possible.
Of course the Left, and the media world in particular, is up in arms. Producer and Hollywood juggernaut Judd Apatow branded C.K. “all fear and bitterness now,” lambasting the “hacky, unfunny, shallow routine.” Kevin Fallon at the Daily Beast accused C.K. of “pander[ing] to the Alt-Right.” Actor and comedian Andy Richter alluded to C.K. in a diss, tweeting that the “most boring kind of comedy” is “the kind where older white men are angry that older white men can’t do or say whatever the fuck they want anymore.” The always noble and ethical TMZ called the set “vile,” while Slate equated it to Kevin Spacey’s deranged and unapologetic confession-cum-defense video.
To be clear, the media and entertainment industry (which had to be dragged, tooth and nail, by the Pulitzer Prize winning #MeToo journalists at the New York Times to finally denounce C.K. after he spent years harassing and exposing himself in front of his female colleagues) has no problem excoriating C.K. for the most transparent ploy for attention in the form of a milquetoast, hackneyed, and intentionally crude comedy set. My question to them: Where were you for the past decade?
First off, with regards to the actual content of the jokes, C.K. has a minor point. Teens these days aren’t working, having sex, or even dating. Despite growing up with social media glued to their hands, they’re the least socialized generation alive and do need a solid kick in the pants. As Parkland survivor Cameron Kasky eloquently stated, “Comedy is supposed to be offensive. My feelings have no place in it. Yes, Louis is an ass for the jokes he’s making which sucks cause he used to be really funny and not just a professional jerk.”
But more importantly, Hollywood and the media’s outright ire over one tasteless set contrasted with their years of complicity and performative pearl-clutching over C.K.’s sustained and systemic harassment of women just goes to show how little they care for victims of sexual misconduct as opposed to outright thought-policing.
Everyone in or adjacent to the comedy world knew about C.K.’s predatory behavior. Gawker and Enty of Crazy Days and Nights spent years dropping blind items about C.K., yet Hollywood protected him.
Aziz Ansari refused to tell the truth about C.K. in a 2015 interview, and “Parks and Recreation” creator Mike Schur cast C.K. on the show in a guest role despite knowing about his behavior. One of the few, brave comedians willing to publicly call out C.K. was none other than Roseanne Barr, who remains in more ignominy for some bad tweets than C.K. does for sexual violence.
The Daily Mail later leaked more comments from C.K.’s set, which have drawn far less notoriety than his remarks about nonbinary people. Like the comments in the media spotlight, they’re unfunny and unremarkable. But one portion stands out.
“I bet none of you had the same year that I had. You ever had a whole bad year,” C.K. said. “I lost so much fucking money. In a day. In one day I lost, I’m not going to tell you, but millions and millions of dollars. So you know it’s at least four, because three is millions and million. It was $35 million.”
There ought to be space in our culture to show grace and forgiveness to those who truly repent and reflect on their actions. But lost in the weeds of left-wing fury will remain the simple fact that in staking out new territory for his brand in the form of cheap outrage clicks and a slightly more bitter version of his old schtick, he never learned a lesson. And he certainly doesn’t give a damn about anything other than his $35 million.
