Other than the fact that he almost assuredly did not write for SNL, John Mulaney has apparently been quietly keeping a significant piece of news to himself for the past 18 months or so: He is no longer being represented by Dave Becky, who happens to be disgraced asshole Louis CK‘s former manager, and a man who allegedly played a leading hand in keeping CK’s many accusers silent for numerous years.
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In a wide-ranging and seriously very good interview with Vulture, Mulaney confirmed that he fired Becky almost immediately after the CK allegations came to light in a November 2017 feature article published by the New York Times.
It’s just that he never really told anyone about it until now.
It’s been a long-known industry fact that Mulaney is no longer being represented by Becky, who still counts a who’s who of comedy figures as clients (including Aziz Ansari, Amy Poehler, and Bill Burr among others), but it’s only now has anyone from the media bothered to ask him about it.
Mulaney confirmed that “Yes, it is true. I stopped working with Dave Becky in November of 2017” and noted that he didn’t issue any public statement on the matter because, in essence, he doesn’t view it as his story to contribute to.
When it happened — when I made the decision — in terms of why I didn’t make a press release, honestly, I didn’t feel I had anything that noble to add, and issuing a simple statement of one sentence that I fired Dave seemed evasive and honestly an unhelpful use of everyone’s time.
I’m happy to have it on the record that I am not working with Dave and made that decision, and again, I think the less oxygen I take up in this conversation, the better.
I don’t think my thoughts and opinions matter in any way compared to the women who have been directly affected by these actions. I say this not at all to be evasive, but just to not talk anymore as a male in comedy who has not had to experience this. Other people should. Women’s opinions matter, and mine does not.
For what it’s worth, Becky issued an apology to the women who accused CK of sexual misconduct following the NYT report, asserting he was sorry for “not listening to and not understanding what happened to [Dana Min Goodman] and [Julia Wolov],” who both asserted that Becky had, via their managers, told them not to speak up about the incident in which CK openly masturbated in front of them after a show in 2002. Becky claims at the time he perceived the incidents as a “matter of infidelity” rather than one of severe sexual misconduct.
The entire (very good) interview with Mulaney can be read here.
