In 2017, Louis C.K. admitted to exposing himself to female comedians—while still insisting that he never did so “without asking first.” In a statement, he said, “These stories are true. 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.” Even though he touched on the idea that power dynamics affect consent, his statement also notably omitted the actual answer he received from the women involved—another fairly important part of the consent equation. Julia Wolov, in 2019, unequivocally stated that, no matter whether C.K. asked, consent was not given.
And yet now, in 2022, he’s winning Grammys and poking fun at the fact that he got “canceled” for admittedly sexually harassing women, and Wolov, one of the women who first spoke out about C.K., spoke with Variety about his Grammy win. Wolov gave an open and honest interview with the publication, expressing just how much his win showed how people are reacting to him.
“Nobody cares. That’s the message this sends,” Wolov says. “It really does. That’s the truth.”
And she’s completely right. It’s sending a message that men can do whatever they want, admit to it, and still get awarded for their work despite the women speaking out. C.K.’s behavior was known by comedy venues and others in the industry, and still, they let him perform. And then they still gave him a stage even after he openly admitted to doing it.
“You sort of take that on, knowing that you might be able to help somebody else. That’s part of what makes you come forward, but it’s not fun. We took one for the team,” Wolov told Variety. “Even talking to you right now, I know this will not work in my favor, but so many people are asking and it’s hard when he’s in the constant news cycle.”
The harm that Louis C.K. has caused
To this day, if you mention Louis C.K. on Twitter, there will be people defending him—and, now, his Grammy win—in your mentions. Why? Because they don’t care what he did, just that they think he is innocent despite C.K. admitting to it. His fans think that it was blown out of proportion, and because of that, he’s still given a platform to make jokes about what he did.
“Of course, his fans will say it’s because we’re not funny or we’re gold diggers — that’s my favorite, like, we got so rich from this,” Wolov said in response to how fans react to the story. “People will say we want attention. Trust me, this is not the attention that I ever hoped for.”
“Anytime that he does anything, I’ll wake up in the morning to messages and emails [from] reporters and it’s the same question: ‘Should he be able to perform?’ I don’t know. Don’t ask me. I don’t make the rules,” she said.
The hard part for everyone involved in this is that C.K. is still constantly in the news. He’s just carrying on with his life after barely recognizing what he did was wrong. Wolov also talked about knowing he faced repercussions, but he’s winning Grammys. So whatever he did face, he seems fine!
“I know that he faced financial repercussions by losing his TV deals, but big deal. For him, I feel like he thinks that’s his god-given right to have these things, where most normal people would see it as a privilege to have that type of platform,” Wolov said. “I don’t believe in cancel culture, but obviously, Louis is not canceled. He seems fine to me. He’s touring. He’s selling out. He’s winning Grammys.”
Louis C.K. and Cancel Culture
The idea of Cancel Culture is one that everyone has a different stance on, but C.K. is a perfect example as to why that doesn’t work. He took a few months off, came back mocking the misconduct he admitted to, and carried on with his life as if he did nothing wrong.
And people like to fret about whether someone who’s been ‘canceled’ will still be able to at least make a living. Even Wolov said she does feel a little bit of guilt about coming out in 2017, but she also pointed out that even if Louis C.K. could no longer find work, he’d still enjoy a level of wealth that most people could never even hope for. “It’s ridiculous, but I do,” she said. “You don’t want to ruin someone’s life. All of our lives got fucked from this, but at least he has millions of dollars to comfort himself. He’s not going to be homeless.”
And he isn’t. Louis C.K. still making money and not only being fine but being rewarded for his comedy as if nothing happened? That’s disgraceful.
(image: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Bob Woodruff Foundation)
