Louis C.K. Takes A Twitter Beating After Accusations Of Sexual Assault Surface (Video)

Louis C.K.
In interviews with The New York Times, five women have come forward, alleging that they were sexually harassed by comedian Louis C.K. Screenshot by The New York Times via YouTube video

If Louis C.K. sexually harassed these women, it isn’t funny

The comedian is the latest addition to the growing list of Hollywood notables who are accused of alleged sexual misconduct, The New York Times reports. It’s a list that includes actor Kevin Spacey, producer Harvey Weinstein, and filmmaker Brett Ratner. And after five women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct, Twitter users had plenty to say, according to Mediaite.

Some get right to the point:

Other Twitter users commented on Louis C.K.’s new film I Love You, Daddy, which was filmed in black and white and is evocative of Woody Allen’s film Manhattan. 

And Ira Madison, who writes for The Daily Beast, couldn’t resist firing this potshot:

 

Then there’s Megan Beth Koester, who formerly wrote for Gawker, Raw Story reports. She attended the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, hoping to ask other comedians about the rumors. But the situation ended badly for her when a bigwig at the festival said she would be “ejected” if she kept asking questions. Unless, of course, she asked “nice” questions.

On Thursday, she tweeted:

Others who already had their suspicions waited patiently for the news to break:

Emily Nussbaum, who writes for The New Yorker, congratulated the women who spoke out, while others called for men to step in when needed:

And some, like Rosie O’Donnell, are disillusioned:

The women came forward Thursday with their claims alleging that he did such things as taking off his clothes and masturbating in front of them without their consent.

Comedians Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov wound up in that particularly unpleasant situation when they visited him in his hotel room in 2002. They told the Times that he asked the women if he could take his penis out, but they assumed he was joking.

Until he actually did it.

“He proceeded to take all of his clothes off, and get completely naked, and started masturbating,” Goodman said. “We were paralyzed.”

Wolov added:

“I think the line gets crossed when you take all your clothes off and start masturbating. Because of this moment, as gross as it is, we feel compelled to speak.”

Abby Schachner, who is also a comedian, alleges that C.K. called her on the phone and began masturbating, while at the same time talking “about unprofessional and inappropriate” topics.

“I definitely wasn’t encouraging it,” she said. “You want to believe it’s not happening.”

“I felt very ashamed,” she added.

And in some cases, there have been witnesses to C.K.’s predatory behavior. As in the case of Courteney Cox and David Arquette, who were executive producers on an unnamed television pilot that featured Louis C.K. and actress/writer Rebecca Corry. Once again, the comedian asked her if he could masturbate in front of her.

“He asked me if we could go to my dressing room so he could masturbate in front of me,” she said. She reminded him he had a wife and child. “His face got red and he told me he had issues.”

Cox and Arquette confirmed this had happened.

“What happened to Rebecca on that set was awful,” Cox said.

Another woman who was interviewed by the Times on condition of anonymity said C.K. repeatedly asked her if he could masturbate in front of her. At one point, she relented.

“I think the big piece of why I said yes was because of the culture,” she noted. “He abused his power.”

He did apparently apologize in private to Schachner on Facebook by sending her a personal message:

“Last time I talked to you it ended in a sordid fashion,” he allegedly wrote. “That was a bad time in my life and I’m sorry.”

“I remember thinking what a repulsive person I was being by responding the way that I did.”

But now the backlash has begun — the New York premiere of his new movie has been canceled, and he canceled an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. 

While it’s nice he apologized to Schachner; it doesn’t lessen the way he traumatized these women, who only want to be seen as equals in a very competitive world, who don’t want to be treated like playthings when they are young and then cast aside when they begin to age. Something that the world does to older women constantly.

But perhaps, in this tweet, Judd Apatow put it best:

The video below gives an overview of the women’s stories.

Featured image by The New York Times via YouTube video