Cancel Culture Is a Joke With Louis C.K. Headlining ‘Netflix Is a Joke’ at the Hollywood Bowl
Time and time again we hear about how “cancel culture” ruins lives. And yet I have not seen a single man who has suffered. Especially not Louis C.K. who is now headlining this year’s “Netflix Is a Joke” festival at the Hollywood Bowl.
Louis C.K. was “canceled” when the world became aware of his tendency to expose himself to women in comedy space. He admitted the allegations were true and then went away for roughly 4 months before he returned to comedy venues to try and make a comeback. Since, C.K. has yet again found an audience with the people who think “cancel culture” is a thing. If it was “real,” Louis C.K. wouldn’t be headlining a huge festival.
The news came with Netflix announcing a new special by Louis C.K. called Ridiculous coming out this summer on the streamer. To be fair, Netflix has collaborated with controversial and “canceled” comedians in the past so Louis C.K. getting a special isn’t surprising but it is upsetting.
As I have said before on this platform, I was told as a young comedy intern to stay away from Louis C.K. if he came into the theater while I was interning. No one thought to ban him from the theater. Instead, they just warned everyone else to stay away.
What did Louis C.K. do?
At least five named women and an unnamed woman accused Louis C.K. of sexual harassment at various comedy venues. It was said, at the time, that Louis C.K. would expose himself and touch himself in front of these women without their consent. Louis C.K. claims that he would ask first and then do it anyway and he even admitted to the power imbalance in doing this.
At the time of the allegations, Louis C.K. admitted to them by saying that the “stories are true” in a statement. “At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn’t a question. It’s a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly.”
He went on to say that he took advantage of being “admired in my and their community.” Most of the statement is Louis C.K. talking about his own power and how “beloved” he was in the comedy world. “There is nothing about this that I forgive myself for. And I have to reconcile it with who I am. Which is nothing compared to the task I left them with.”
He clearly forgave himself enough to take on a headlining gig for Netflix and to dive back into this world with less than 6 months out of it but cancel culture is real and ruins the lives of men, right?
(featured image: Netflix)
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