Louis CK experienced cancel culture after he masturbated in front of female co-stars. Photo / Getty
Louis CK experienced cancel culture after he masturbated in front of female co-stars. Photo / Getty
I suppose you've got to laugh. Louis CK seems to be experiencing a classic case of revolving-door syndrome as he attempts to check out of Hotel Cancellation.
You might think that winning the Grammy award for Best Comedy Album on Sunday would bring an end to the 54-year-old US comedian'sfive-year period of pariahdom. That doesn't seem to be the case judging by the insta-backlash.
The slap that reverberated around the world. Photo / Getty
His status as an outspoken but acceptably risqué darling of the comedy world (a "genius", according to more than one critic) was shattered by sexual misconduct allegations in late 2017 – with five women speaking out about distressing masturbatory displays by the star. CK (born Székely) was fairly swift to acknowledge and apologise for his abhorrent exhibitionist behaviour, issuing a statement ("There is nothing about this that I forgive myself for...").
His Grammy win might signal a form of hard-won rehabilitation. His album, Sincerely Louis CK, was self-released in 2019, as he crawled his way back onto the live comedy scene, tail between his legs. And it addressed his behaviour, in typically frank terms. The related material wasn't exactly contrite: "I don't like being alone, I get lonely… I like to share, if you're good at juggling you wouldn't do it alone in the dark, you would gather folks and amaze them," he joked.
Even so, it was clear he had paid a price for being "in global amounts of trouble". And in seeing the funny side, and making people laugh at his sleazy expense, he was doing what we admire comics for: making light work of life's upsets.
Shock, disbelief and anger mounted swiftly on social media in response to his Grammy win, all the same. Though the man himself hadn't attended the awards in Las Vegas, didn't offer a speech, or reaction, he was still in the line of ire.
One journalist, David M Perry, tweeted: "He should have no career anymore". Likewise Atima Omara, writer and former President of Young Democrats of America, was scathing: "Louis CK serially abused women but gets to keep his career and even get a Grammy." There's plenty more of that sentiment. Nothing wrong with expressing distaste, or outrage. What's clear, though, is that the demand CK remains an outcast has got a new lease of life; decision-makers running platforms that could boost him will take heed of it.
Chris Rock was slapped by Will Smith at the Academy Awards. Photo / Getty
The Grammy win tests the water and finds it's scalding. It doesn't disprove the existence of "cancel culture" rather demonstrates its nature. The social media universe, governed by the law of eternal return, means that, in Faulkner's words, "The past is never dead." To those fixed in outrage, there is no corner of showbusiness where Louis CK should be allowed to make a living.
After seeing that old clip of Louis CK and Chris Rock on what I presume to be the late show, my belief that comedians should be abolished has been further cemented
Yes, he still has a substantial following for his comedy - and can support himself by publishing content on his own site. But those most vehemently against him seem to begrudge him even this self-sufficiency. For them, it's as if only a terminal silencing – ideally resulting in the fallen star fishing food out of bins – will do.
The entertainment world is becoming populated by "undead" celebrities – they may be contrite, but they can't be allowed to escape their self-inflicted taint.
Will Smith offered his unqualified apology for his unacceptable behaviour at the Oscars. However repugnant you find his slapping of Chris Rock, isn't there something distasteful about the idea of an open-ended sentence? Will Smith is still a good actor – he won an Oscar, after all – yet he's already had two future projects cancelled, with others in jeopardy. Why do we gravitate to the arts if we don't feel that inner change is possible, and that someone can learn from the error of their ways? Why watch King Lear if our primary reaction to his downfall and demise is along the lines of "good riddance"?
"If you don't believe people change, grow as they get older, I don't know what to tell you", said US comic Kevin Hart, in the face of a decisive backlash to the plan for him to host the Oscars in 2019, on account of some old homophobic tweets.
I'm not wishing to be an apologist for toxic behaviour or actions so heinous that they're criminal, though the justice system itself rests on the idea of a sentence completed. Rather, I'm an apologist for apologies: I think they should count. David Baddiel has apologised for adopting "blackface" for skits in the 1990s and impersonating the black footballer Jason Lee on Fantasy Football. He has said "I'm happy to keep on apologising", which wearingly answers the contemporary requirement for unending remorse, with no fixable point of forgiveness being arrived at.
What might our culture have gained had Oscar Wilde been allowed "back" after his transgressions and humiliations? You can't put Louis CK in the same field of genius – but he may yet redeem himself, and surprise us all.
