Louis CK has done nothing but profit from his victims – and his Grammys win proves it

Far from being subjected to ‘permanent exile’, Louis CK has not only secured lucrative deals and been given a platform to air his new material, he has now won a Grammy Award for his ‘comeback’ album

Louis CK isn’t a war hero coming back from the trenches; he is a sexual predator who abused his position of power (Getty Images)

In 2017, five women publicly accused Louis CK of sexual misconduct in a New York Times report, which detailed his predatory behaviour at length. All of the accounts described how he would expose himself in front of them, before he’d proceed to masturbate to completion – something that had long been rumoured about and, in fact, was featured in a blind item run by Gawker in 2012.

The comedian himself then issued a lengthy statement apologising for his actions, admitting the allegations were true – a move seemingly calculated by him and his PR team to avoid further (warranted) backlash from the #MeToo movement, given how few of the accused at that time took ownership of their behaviour.

“I [...] took advantage of the fact that I was widely admired in my and their community,” he wrote, in an otherwise smarmy monologue, “which disabled them from sharing their story and brought hardship to them when they tried because people who look up to me didn’t want to hear it.”

Running with The Disgraced – But Apologetic – Man brand, Louis CK returned to comedy at the start of the pandemic, with his album  Sincerely, Louis CK. He then embarked on an international tour in 2021, in which he donned a sign reading “SORRY” – in case his point hadn’t been amplified enough during his self-serving campaign of redemption.

Toronto-based club owner, Mark Breslin, was one of the industry figures who lapped up the comedian’s return – so much so that he booked him for a string of dates and described in an op-ed in The Canadian Jewish News that the move was to rattle “the cage of polite society”. He talked about how the comedian had been “treated unfairly” and didn’t deserve the “permanent exile” he had been subjected to (apparently).

One of the victims, comedian Julia Wolov, wrote in response to Breslin’s remarks: “We, too, work in comedy. We will probably never make tens of millions of dollars to lose. Louis CK is still very wealthy. Although we may never have the stature to perform at [Breslin’s club] Yuk Yuk’s, we will continue to navigate our careers the best we can. So, when you pat yourself on the back for Louis CK’s career resurgence and helping your business thrive, maybe think about the human beings encumbered in this story.”

Now, almost five years after the damning exposé, Louis CK has not only secured lucrative deals and been given a platform to air his new material, he has now won a Grammy Award for his “comeback” album... which begs the question: was he ever “cancelled”?

Of course he wasn’t. Far from being “permanently exiled”, as Breslin put it, the comedian, like so many disgraced male figures identified in the #MeToo movement, simply retreated into his vast wealth under the guise of “personal reflection”, before he found a way to profit further from his victims. I mean, how self-indulgent do you have to be to take the pain of others – which you have inflicted – and turn it into “material”?

Many like to claim that the public act as judge and prosecutor in these situations, that once a person crosses over the boundary of politically correct, they are forever tarnished with the “woke” brush. But, in reality, this is rarely the case – nor should holding someone accountable for their actions be seen as a bad thing.

Time and again, people come back from these “blows”. We’ve seen it with Woody Allen, Kevin Spacey, Ansel Elgort – hell, Donald Trump was elected president of the United States after he was accused of sexually assaulting multiple women and audibly bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy”.

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It’s not even that people shouldn’t have the opportunity to redeem themselves and right their wrongs – of course they should. If we, as humans, never learnt from our mistakes or were never offered the chance of forgiveness, society itself would be flawed and would never progress. That said, there is absolutely no need to glorify people’s bad actions and, worse still, applaud them.

Had Louis CK quietly contemplated the weight of what he had done, funded an initiative that helped female comedians at the start of their careers, donated to rape charities or done literally anything to help the women involved and diffuse the toxic environment within their industry, I would have respect for him. But he hasn’t. He has just hijacked their experience and capitalised on their anguish.

This isn’t a commendable thing for the Grammys to do. Louis CK isn’t a war hero coming back from the trenches; he is a sexual predator who abused his position of power. Having been subjected to sexual crimes myself, I can only imagine how these women are feeling today.

Many of us who have gone through similar experiences will privately negotiate the fallout and will, thankfully, never face the perpetrator again. But when a celebrity is involved, there is no such luxury. People condemn you for coming forward; they question your motives and whether you’re telling the truth; they cannot separate art from the artist, and continue to laud these figures, irrespective of what they’ve done and the damage caused.