I absolutely adored watching Louis C.K. standup. It was the best in the world, nobody came close, his shocking, knee-jerk-styled comedy routines were so authentic that you could connect, in some fashion, to the fucked-upness that was C.K's own life.
And so, despite Louis C.K. facing multiple sexual harassment claims against him (five women in a report by The New York Times) and not lawyering up, the industry is"swiftly backed away from the director, actor, and writer." Was his career done? We still don't know. I mean, at some point he was outright refusing to comment on the allegations, which started as early as last April by saying “I’m not going to answer to that stuff, because they’re rumors. If you actually participate in a rumor, you make it bigger and you make it real.”
And so, with not much choice left but to release a statement, the 50-year-old comedian did just that by releasing a statement in which he apologized for his actions [Via THR]
I won't go into the nitty-gritty and analyze it all. Suffice to say, it's nevertheless was an actual apology, he didn't try and redirect the topic, unlike Mr. Spacey's infamous coming-out party a week earlier. He didn't run from the issue either, unlike Mr. Weinstein's exit to Europe and total lack of compassion. No, it wasn't a full apology, but he did not victim blame, he owned up, confessed, and somewhat apologized, most of all he also realized the power he held over these women. That's what I gathered most from it.
Edie Falco, who starred with C.K. in “Horace and Pete” and “I Love You, Daddy,” told Vulture in a new interview that she wants him to have a second chance:
“He’s someone who admitted that he did what he was accused of doing and admitted that it wasn’t right. If I was not given another chance a couple of times, there is no way we’d be having this interview right now,” she continued. “People who are committed to becoming aware of what they’ve done and changing, they can be our strongest proponents in an issue like this.”
My thoughts on "I Love You, Daddy" from last September can be found HERE, but despite some decent reviews the film was dropped by its studio and never released, Falco feels bad about that situation, "I was sad. I know that he worked very hard on it,” she explained. “He shoots that thing and two minutes later he’s ready to release it, which is incredible when you see all the bullshit that goes on between the end of a movie and when it’s released. Louis makes his own stuff and puts it out, and I love that chutzpah.”