Ever since disgraced comedian Louis C.K. made a premature comeback to the stage less than 10 months after admitting to sexual misconduct against five female comedians, the content of his stand up appearances has been under tight scrutiny.
In that first show back, C.K. made an incredibly tone-deaf joke about a rape whistle, and now it seems he’s trying out new material that talks about his experience with the #MeToo movement.
And stop saying Louis CK 'lost his career.' He didn't remotely lose his career. He took less than a year off.
The women who tried to out him years ago are the ones who lost their careers.
— Julie DiCaro (@JulieDiCaro) August 28, 2018
Louis C.K performed last Wednesday at the West Side Comedy Club, and tried out some new jokes that seem to position him as the victim.
According to Laughspin, the West Side host, AMarie Castillo says he opened with “It’s been a weird year”. Apparently he continued by saying he’s been to “Hell and back”, and joked that while he was in Hell he met Hitler.
The report says that in the stand up show C.K. addressed dealing with being booed on the street and everyone hating him.
“I lost $35 million in an hour.” he said.
What it sounds like is a narrative that begs the audience to have pity on Louis C.K. for the hard time he has been through in the last year.
It’s a huge misrepresentation of the situation to paint himself as the victim, but of course, that’s what we are bound to see. This is capitalising on the large audience of people ready to have their fears confirmed that #MeToo is taking victims instead of standing up for them.
I wish all the people crying “so Louis CK can never work in comedy again?” felt as strongly about all the women who could never work in comedy again.
— Jennifer Weiner (@jenniferweiner) August 28, 2018
While a lot of people would prefer if Louis C.K. had simply stayed off the stage for longer, seeing as he’s back the least he can do is tell his story fairly.
If C.K. is really taking responsibility for his actions as he claimed in his public apology, then he can not capitalise on a victim narrative to revive his career.