Comedians Didn't Need to Be Such Assholes About the Rumors of Louis C.K.'s masturbation habits

[ehrnst]

With the exception of a few brave women like Roseanne Bar and Tig Notaro, most of comedy's elite have been mum on this until the past two days, which isn't surprising, but also pretty reprehensible considering these were open secrets known to everyone in the industry.

"You’d hear it mentioned under people’s breath when he did episodes about masturbation or released the trailer for his movie," Mike Drucker, a writer for The President Show on Comedy Central and formerly of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, explained to me in a text message. "There’s still a fear among comedians that—even now—speaking out about this or having a strong opinion will damage you or backfire."
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But looking back, what's even more disturbing is what famous male comedians had to say about Louis C.K. when they were confronted with these rumors following the 2015 Gawker report.

During an audience Q&A in May 2016, a young man asked Jon Stewart about interviewing C.K. on The Daily Show in light of his sexual misconduct allegations. "Woah, what?" Stewart said, apparently confused.

The man explained that comedian Jen Kirkman had suggested C.K. harassed her—she subsequently reneged her claims—also mentioning that Gawker had published a story, and people had been talking about it on the internet. He then asked if there was any discussion at The Daily Show about having C.K. on as a guest. Stewart burst out laughing. "Wait, I'm a little bit lost," he said. "So the internet said Louis harassed women?... You know who you're talking to, right?"

Stewart continued, smiling at the apparent ridiculousness of the question, "I'm honestly not that connected to that world, so I don't know what you're talking about... All I can tell you is I've worked with Louis for 30 years, and he's a wonderful man and person, and I've never heard anything about this. We've all known Bill Cosby was a prick for a long time, so I don't know what to tell you." The audience laughed

[Not Ruth]

1. Jon and Louis were probably the top 2 NYC metro comedians after Seinfeld

They all knew

[ehrnst]

2. And Jon punted. (nt)