Five women have gone on the record to accuse comedian Louis C.K. of inappropriate sexual behaviour, detailing his alleged history of masturbating in front of colleagues to the New York Times.
Comedians Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov stated that after a successful 2002 gig in Aspen, Colorado, C.K. invited them to his hotel room for celebratory drinks. They said that almost immediately after they arrived, he asked if he could take out his penis.
The pair initially thought he was joking, but Goodman said “and then he really did it. He proceeded to take all of his clothes off, and get completely naked, and started masturbating.”
C.K. allegedly continued until ejaculation. The women, who were “paralyzed” by the brazenness of the situation, say they escaped the hotel room and notified the owner of several prominent comedy theatres, along with other comedians.
The women reportedly felt like they had been warned to stop talking about the incident. By the time they moved to Los Angeles, Goodman said they arrived with “a bunch of enemies.”
Writer, performer, and illustrator Abby Schachner says that C.K. audibly masturbated during an ostensibly friendly phone call in 2003. “I definitely wasn’t encouraging it,” Schachner told the Times, adding “you want to believe it’s not happening.”
The Times reviewed a Facebook message C.K. sent Schachner years after the alleged incident, in which he said “I remember thinking what a repulsive person I was being by responding the way that I did.”
Actor and comedian Rebecca Corry told the publication that while filming the pilot episode of a series with C.K. in 2005, he “asked if we could go to my dressing room so he could masturbate in front of me.” She declined.
And an anonymous female colleague of C.K. from their time working on The Chris Rock Show claims he “abused his power” by asking her, several times, to watch him masturbate. She claims to have sat across from him while he masturbated, telling the paper she knew it was “wrong.”
These statements come after an extended period of rumours about C.K.’s alleged inappropriate behaviour.
C.K.’s publicist told the Times he would not be responding to the published allegations. However, the New York City premiere of C.K.’s film I Love You, Daddy was abruptly cancelled hours before the story was published, and C.K.’s spot on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was also cut.
The allegations come amid an intense period of scrutiny on accused abusers in the entertainment industry. Wolov said “because of this moment, as gross as it is, we feel compelled to speak.”
We’ll keep you updated on the developments on this one. You can read the Times’ full piece right HERE.
