Five women have alleged that Louis C.K. committed sexual misconduct in his interactions with them in a report by The New York Times.
Chicago comedy duo Dana Mini Goodman and Julia Wolov claim that C.K. asked them if he could “take his penis” out when they went back to his hotel room for a nightcap after their performance at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in 2002.
The duo thought C.K. was joking and laughed it off. “And then he really did it,” Goodman said. “He proceeded to take all of his clothes off, and get completely naked, and started masturbating.”
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In 2003, Abby Schachner called the comedian to invite him to one of her shows and she said that during the phone conversation she could hear him masturbating as they spoke.
Comedian Rebecca Corry claims that while she was working on a television pilot with C.K. in 2005, he asked if he could masturbate in front of her.
Corry said he asked her if they could “go to my dressing room so he could masturbate in front of me.”
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Corry declined and said that she pointed out that C.K. has a daughter and wife. “His face got red,” she said. “And he told me he had issues.”
The show’s executive producers, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, confirmed the news to the Times.
“What happened to Rebecca on that set was awful,” Cox said in an email to the Times, adding that she felt “outrage and shock.”
“My concern was to create an environment where Rebecca felt safe, protected and heard,” she said.
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The report notes that this is the first time a story has been told on-the-record after years of rumours and comments from other female comedians, such as Rosanne Barr and Tig Notaro, about C.K. masturbating in front of associates.
C.K.’s publicist told the Times that the comedian would not respond to the accusations of sexual misconduct. “Louis is not going to answer any questions,” C.K.’s publicist, Lewis Kay, wrote.
Another woman spoke on condition of anonymity to protect her family’s privacy. She said she was working in production at The Chris Rock Show when C.K. reportedly asked her to watch him masturbate.
“It was something that I knew was wrong,” she said. She described sitting in his office while he masturbated at his desk in his chair during a workday.
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“I think the big piece of why I said yes was because of the culture,” she continued. “He abused his power.”
Notaro also spoke to the Times for the exposé, addressing rumours about C.K. when promoting her Amazon series One Mississippi, which premiered early September.
The series is produced under C.K.’s FX Productions-based Pig Newton and though C.K. is credited as executive producer, Notaro said they had not spoken in two years and that he is not involved in the show. She did not elaborate on what caused the rift between the pair.
Notaro said she feels “trapped” by her association with C.K. “He knew it was going to make him look like a good guy, supporting a woman,” she said, adding that she learned of his reputation only after selling One Mississippi to Amazon.
“Sadly, I’ve come to learn that Louis C.K.’s victims are not only real,” she said by email, “but many are actual friends of mine within the comedy community.”
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Notaro said she is speaking out to support of those with the courage “to speak up against such a powerful figure… as well as the multitude of women still out there, not quite ready to share their nightmares.”
Notaro revealed to The Daily Beast in August that she and C.K. had a falling out. She spoke briefly about the sexual misconduct rumours surrounding C.K. saying, “I think it’s important to take care of that, to handle that, because it’s serious to be assaulted. It’s serious to be harassed. It’s serious, it’s serious, it’s serious.”
C.K. addressed the reports in a Times article, saying, “I’m not going to answer to that stuff because they’re rumours. If you actually participate in a rumour, you make it bigger and you make it real.”
The New York premiere of C.K.’s upcoming film I Love You, Daddy was cancelled abruptly on Thursday due to “unexpected circumstances.”
The Orchard, who is distributing the film, has released a statement saying, “In light of the allegations concerning Louis C.K. referenced in today’s New York Times, we are cancelling tonight’s premiere of I Love You, Daddy. There is never a place for the behavior detailed in these allegations. As a result, we are giving careful consideration to the timing and release of the film and continuing to review the situation.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times was planning the story on C.K. and the premiere was cancelled in case it was damaging.
The comedian’s planned appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert was also cancelled, with William H. Macy taking his place on the late-night show.