For those who like initials, here’s some WTF about Louis C.K. As Deadline notes, the embattled comedian who admitted to numerous allegations of sexual misconduct has announced a massive US standup tour, spanning 50 shows in 30 cities.
The trek launches next week with a two-night stand at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. It’s not clear how much say they had, but that’s at least two big brands — the streaming giant Hulu, and James Dolan, owner of MSG, the New York Knicks, and the New York Rangers — who have not objected to having their name associated with C.K. Huh!
To be fair, the comedian’s transgressions are in a different category from some of the other faces of the #MeToo movement. He isn’t a convicted serial rapist like Harvey Weinstein, or an alleged pedophile like Woody Allen. He showed his penis to a number of women, some of whom were his employees, and masturbated. As he said in his statement of admission, “When you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn’t a question. It’s a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly.”
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Since then, he’s slowly but surely been working his way back into the common consciousness. He’s joked about rape, the “black people” who stuck by his side, his experience of losing “$35 million in an hour” because of the allegations, and he mocked the Parkland shooting survivors and gender-neutral pronouns. In 2020, he released a new standup special where he cracked jokes about his sexual misconduct.
For his upcoming tour, he’s promising more of the same. “I’m really looking forward to seeing your faces as I tell some rather impolite jokes and stories,” he wrote in an email announcing the tour dates.
Questions of guilt, punishment, and redemption lie far beyond the scope of this article. If you want to learn more about the tour, you can find information over at his website.