Renown director, actor and producer Louis C.K. is the latest star to be accused of sexual misconduct.
In an exposé by The New York Times, five women have come forward to allege that C.K. openly masturbated in front of them. This comes after years of rumors – rumors that have dogged the influential comedian since as far back as the mid-2000s – though this is the first time that anyone has gone on record in an official capacity.
Back in 2002, Louis C.K. allegedly asked two female comediennes, Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov, to come up to his hotel room. When they refused, he proceeded to get naked without their permission and masturbate in front of them. The following year, Abby Schachner claims she could hear C.K. masturbating on the phone as they spoke, while Rebecca Corey alleges that the comic asked her if he could pleasure himself in her presence. Louis C.K.’s publicist refused to comment at the time of writing.
Via the Times:
Now, after years of unsubstantiated rumors about Louis C.K. masturbating in front of associates, women are coming forward to describe what they experienced. Even amid the current burst of sexual misconduct accusations against powerful men, the stories about Louis C.K. stand out because he has so few equals in comedy.
The fifth accuser spoke under the condition of anonymity, and told the Times that she experienced a similar sexual advance from Louis C.K. at an undisclosed time.
The New York Times continues:
“He was a comedian they admired. The women would be together. His intentions seemed collegial. As soon as they sat down in his room, still wrapped in their winter jackets and hats, Louis C.K. asked if he could take out his penis. They thought it was a joke and laughed it off. ‘And then he really did it,’ Ms. Goodman said in an interview with The New York Times. ‘He proceeded to take all of his clothes off, and get completely naked, and started masturbating.’”
These deeply troubling allegations come just as Louis C.K. is preparing to launch his new movie, I Love You, Daddy, which follows a television writer whose 17-year-old daughter is seduced by an older movie producer, one rumored to be a pedophile. Its New York premiere has since been canceled in light of the Times’ exposé.
Louis C.K. now joins a long line of prominent Hollywood men who have been brought into the spotlight for their alleged misconduct. If the ongoing Harvey Weinstein scandal was the first domino to fall, then over the past fortnight we’ve caught wind of accusations being leveled against Kevin Spacey, Brett Ratner, Dustin Hoffman and Charlie Sheen.
