On Sunday evening, Shannon Watts (the founder of Moms Demand Action) shared an audio recording of Louis C.K. doing an incredibly disturbing “comedy set.” Most recently, C.K. has been in the news in light of the #MeToo movement, which, to review, involves survivors of sexual violence and harassment coming forward with their stories.
C.K. specifically was called out for sexual misconduct for exposing himself and masturbating in front of at least five women. He issued an apology. He promised to “step back and take a long time to listen.”
Has he changed at all, though? His leaked audio set speaks for itself.
C.K. made “jokes” about the Parkland shooting survivors, many of whom are becoming politically active. To recap, 17 people, including teenagers and adults, were killed on February 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in a massacre of gun violence.
In his set, C.K. shared the following sentiments:
"Testify in front of Congress, these kids, what the f*ck? What are you doing? You're young! You should be crazy! You should be unhinged, not in a suit! You're not interesting 'cause you went to a high school where kids got shot, why does that mean I have to listen to you? Why does that make you interesting? You didn't get shot. You pushed some fat kid in the way and now I gotta listen to you talking?"
Parkland survivors tweeted about his comments:
How was the audio leaked to begin with? No one is quite sure. James Dolce, who owns the Governor’s Comedy Club in Levittown, New York, explained to CNN that the performance happened at his club in December. C.K. reportedly performed a total of six shows over 14 days. Notably, the club has a policy against filming or recording.
Dolce, who would happily book C.K. again in spite of this enormous controversy, says of the sets that "there was not one bit of controversy, no one said he shouldn't be on stage.”
C.K. also mocked young people who use gender-neutral or non-binary pronouns and used anti-gay slurs. In a lisp, he said, “‘You should address me, as ‘they/them’ because I identify as gender neutral.’” To which he replied normally, “Okay, you should address me as ‘there’ because I identify as a location, and that location is your mother’s c—t.”
Though this was less-widely reported, C.K. also launched into a tirade about the genital size of black and Asian men (yes, he even “joked” about Asian men’s math skills). And then in what can only be assumed was a final punch to offend literally everyone possible, he included some slurs against people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities, too.
What has he learned after being held accountable by the #MeToo movement? Like too many men who promised to do better, it seems he’s learned absolutely nothing. If anything, this set suggests he’s just doubled down.