I quite admire and like Louis C.K’s work and brand of humor, i am quite frustrated by the fact that these allegations have been following him for years and he’s never addressed it and made amends for it until now, when confronted in such a public way. I would have hoped he was better than this and that it wouldnt’ve taken such a public accusation to get him to acknowledge what he’s done.
It is not for me to forgive him and i do not know if he really means it or if he’s just a really good bullshitter but i suppose this will have to do for now and time will tell if this is truly a behavior of the past or if he’ll continue in some fashion. I hope for the better of course but it sours my immediate disposition for wanting to watch/listen to his stuff.
I’m immediately reminded of an infamous and very problematic episode of his show Louise where he sexually assaults a female friend, did a quick Google search and it seems i am not the only one making the connection
I was creeped out by his last comedy special that I watched on Netflix. It was very dark. Lots of talk about suicide and this inappropriate masturbation stuff and things that maybe a few years ago would have been somewhat funny. But this time, it was off-putting. It was too up-close. His past stuff was on that line, but still kind of not stepping over the line. The most recent special was definitely over the line for me. I had a very ewwy feeling after watching it. Now it’s even ewwier. Because most of that stuff he’s been saying for the last 15 years is true. And very, very gross, maladjusted behavior. Yuck. Dude’s so fuckin rich, he doesn’t need to work anymore. He could buy a chateau and go drink wine for the rest of his life somewhere. He doesn’t need us anymore and I don’t want him.
I feel like nothing will be accomplished if future dirtbags don’t have a whole bunch of examples placed before them of how their lives could be ruined if they act on their dirtbag tendencies. If all they have to fear (if caught) is a timeout in the corner then they may decide it’s worth the risk to make someone else suffer every time they feel like ejaculating.
Do you employ the Categorical Imperative in all decisions you make in your life?
I’m not Louis C.K. or anyone else’s kindergarten teacher so I don’t have to worry about whether I’m teaching him the right lesson. It’s not really up to me to accept his apology or not accept it.
“Refuse to accept any form of apology” makes it sounds like we ought to agree there is some right kind of apology that allows people to move on with their lives. There is no model for how to do it right. There’s no template. An apology is not a product for us to consume that can be quality controlled or perfected.
Whether you meant to be dismissive or not, you have been. It is too soon to ask at what point justice has been served when literally no justice has been served yet.
Something that’s making me nuts is that I read that statement and it is pretty damn clear to me that he doesn’t want anyone defending him.
And that is exactly the shit that allowed him to do what he did, to damage the credibility and careers women he abused, while furthering his own career.
I am not willing to overlook Louis. If anything i am quite upset and disappointed, i don’t know how to take his apology but he’s on my shitlist. I will want to see how this pans out ultimately, i am more inclined to want to believe his remorse but i’m not going to take it at face value.
Also see above for the link i posted about an article discussing an episode he directed of his show where he assaults a friend. The vibe that i get is that Louis, the real guy, is kind of a scumbag that has some redeeming qualities. The question is, how much of his scummy nature are we willing to overlook? I don’t know myself but in light of all the harassment stories i am not going to defend him nor overlook his actions. It’s up to him to take action.
Here’s the issue I have with framing is as being about atonement. It smacks of religious overtones regarding sin. When the focus is on rehabilitating the sinner, it usually leads to a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing (if I may misquote the Bard). My attitude is that he can and should spend his days trying to dismantle the enabling culture. But not so he can get back to making bank telling jokes and writing scripts where he’ll be around many of his victims and other women who would be uncomfortable having him in their spheres. He should do it because it’s the right thing to do, not for some reward. And if he’s really ashamed, then he will. Which is why I said time will tell. Because he only owned this when it was more advantageous than continuing to deny it.
That’s actually a problem I have with how society deals with these things as a whole. Social media has devolved cultural politics into a popularity contest where the peanut gallery casts their vote American Idol style and that becomes the determinant of how accountable the public holds predators. Morality shouldn’t be a popularity contest, and a society that treats it as such is deeply diseased.
His behavior had not changed very much, in that he denied the accusations weeks ago when a reporter asked about them, and months ago when Tig Notaro asked him to own up to it, and years ago when Jen Kirkman brought it up.
lf he had owned and apologized for his behavior before his career was derailed by the NY Times article, I would have perhaps been able to retain some respect for him.
My thoughts exactly, if he’s truly remorseful he would have come clean on his own. His recent apology is well done, but context matters… he was forced into addressing it and that alone makes me doubt any honestly and sincerity he might have.
Yeah, that isn’t a bullshit ‘apology’, and if I were more a fan of his work, it might matter to me whether or not the public accepts his apology on behalf of this one individual.
After watch The Orville last night, this is the apology I remembered from a long time ago:
Bottom line is, no matter how blatant the abuse, Hollywood loves to forgive (men)
Actually, there is. His apology should go directly to the women he offended and he should beg forgiveness. It is up to them to accept or reject his apology.
He will also need to apologize to those reporters for lying to them.
I have read his explanation and I’m glad he sees how it has affected these people and his fans, but it is not forgiveness he is asking for from me. He is asking for me to accept his explanation. Then its up to me to accept or deny. What I am hearing is many are taking a “burn me once” attitude and others are accepting his explanation. The proof of your acceptance or denial will be in the future when he determines his course of action.
Actions speak louder than words. Admitting his predatory behavior when it was disadvantageous would have been an action. Doing it now because he’s smart enough to know nopologies don’t fly is him doing what’s best for himself. All it shows is that he has enough cultural awareness not to load his apology with excuses and shifted responsibility. Hardly a revelation in an age when frequent nopologies get deservedly excoriated. He also admits he knew what he was doing was wrong, but preferred to rationalize it until others forced him to face it. Hardly laudable.
No, he should not contact them. If he wants to apologize to them in an open letter, that’s one thing, but predators should never contact their victims.
And most emphatically no, he has no moral right to ask anyone’s forgiveness. Even asking is a coercive act. A true apology asks for nothing in return. This perverted idea of apology as quid pro quo needs to die in a fire and never come back.
I am not very familiar with his work, but I do work in a prison and interact with offenders on a daily basis. Some are remorseful and some not so much. People who want to do better should receive encouragement to do so. I’d like to see Mr. CK use this opportunity to benefit our very sick society. If truly remorseful, he has the fame and finances that the average Joe lacks, to throw at this sickness and promote change. Step one: own the behavior (check). Step two: use your resources (time, fame, $, etc.) to try make things better. Restorative justice.
A casual friend in our clique in college (we’ll call him “Frank”) did that to one of my close friends at that time; he was giving her a ride home one night, and before he dropped her off, he nonchalantly asked he could jack off in front of her. She said before she even had a chance to react, Frank had ‘whipped it out’ and started just going to town on himself.
She bolted from the car without another word, not waiting for him to ‘finish.’
None of the females in our clique was ever willing to be alone with Frank after that.
There has to be a positive difference between owning up and trying to shift the blame. He will go through a hard time, but recognices that it is nothing compared to what He put these women through.
His admission is akin to an alcoholic owning up to his disease, it´s a step, not the cure. But He can also help others change their ways and, at least, stop the cycle within his own family.
Come to think of it, THIS is a very large and hideous toilet bowl that needs scrubbing and He can help by showing he is cleaning up his own mess. At least that deserves some positive reinforcement.
Good question. I do know waiting until after you’ve been busted and have little choice but to apologise doesn’t seem like the best model! This kind of timing introduces some doubt into the picture and is probably what a sociopath would do too.
