Jon Stewart said he regrets not acting sooner when he first heard reports that his friend and fellow comedian Louis C.K. had behaved inappropriately with female comics.
“You always find yourself back to a moment of, ‘Did I miss something? Could I have done more?'” Stewart told Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie on “Today” on Tuesday. “And in this situation, I think we all could have. So you feel anger at what you did to people.”
Last week, C.K.’s career fell into a tailspin after he admitted to repeated acts of sexual misconduct following a report in the New York Times.
Stewart said that his initial impulse was to side with C.K. “You give your friends the benefit of the doubt,” the former “Daily Show” host said. “I tried to think about it in terms of, I’ve had friends who have had compulsions and have done things: gambling or drinking or drugs. And we’ve lost some of them. Some of them have died.”
Stewart also addressed the power dynamics in comedy, a topic other comedians have brought up since the misconduct accusations posed against C.K.
“Look, comedy on its best day is not a great environment for women,” said Stewart, who revealed he hasn’t talked to C.K. since the news broke.
“The idea that there was this added layer of pressure and manipulation and fear and humiliation,” he said. “If you talk to women, they’re in a very difficult position, and you get mad at yourself, too, for laughing it off or for thinking, ‘That didn’t happen.’ And it’s hard.”
Looking at the bigger picture, Stewart added, “It’s another one of those endemic, systemic and complex problems that we all haven’t had the urgency for, certainly myself included.”
Stewart also tried to address his dismissal of online chatter about C.K.’s behavior when he appeared in a May 2016 video of David Axelrod’s podcast, “The Axe Files.”
“My first response was, ‘What?'” Stewart said on “Today.” “And then, joke, joke, and as he kept going, I was like, ‘Look, I know this is very serious, but I know Louis, he’s always been a gentleman to me,’ which, again, it speaks to the blindness that I think a man has,” he said.
“Digging around in it and finding that some people had done, it was hard, but we were all assured like, no, but we took somebody’s word for it, and maybe that’s an error on our part.”
You can see Stewart’s interview in the video above.
Hollywood Hair-Trigger: 11 Films and TV Shows Impacted by Sexual Harassment Accusations (Photos)
The downfall of Harvey Weinstein has created a domino effect across Hollywood, as women are coming forward to expose the sexual harassment in the industry. As producers and celebrities are accused, the films and TV shows they were involved in have also suffered. Here's a running list of the projects that have been delayed, paused, or outright axed as a result of these scandals.
"All The Money In The World": After Kevin Spacey was accused of sexually harassing actor Anthony Rapp as a teenager, among others, Sony pulled the historical drama starring him as J. Paul Getty from AFI Fest and then announced that all of Spacey's scenes would be reshot with Christopher Plummer in the role.
"I Love You Daddy": Louis C.K. wrote, starred in, directed, edited and funded this film about a man whose teenage daughter starts dating a 68-year-old director who is Woody Allen in all but name. But after The New York Times published a story in which five women accused him of harassment, The Orchard canceled the film's premiere and is considering changing the release date after buying it in Toronto for $5 million.
HBO: Louis C.K. was also pulled from HBO's charity special "Night of Too Many Stars" following the scandal, and all of the comedian's work has been pulled from HBO's on-demand service.
"House of Cards": In addition to Rapp's claims against Spacey, members of the crew of his hit Netflix show have come forward with stories of Spacey's misconduct. In response, Netflix first paused production on the show's sixth season, which they later announced would be its last. Then, Netflix severed all ties with Spacey, meaning the show will have to finish filming without him.
"Gore": Netflix's decision to drop Spacey means his biopic about Gore Vidal, which explores the writer's relationship with a younger man, is now without a distributor. The film had completed filming and was in the midst of post-production when Spacey was accused.
Untitled Hugh Hefner Biopic: For years, Brett Ratner has held the rights to make a movie about the life of late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. But after the LA Times published a story about Ratner's history of harassment, Playboy announced that the biopic was going on hold.
"The Current War": The ongoing Harvey Weinstein scandal has brought his studio, The Weinstein Company, to the verge of bankruptcy. As the remnants of the company fights to stay alive, it has moved all the remaining films on this year's slate to 2018, including a Thomas Edison biopic starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
"Polaroid": The TWC scandal has also affected its genre wing, Dimension Studios, as it pushed this horror film about a camera with deadly powers to 2018 as well.
"Wind River": TWC has even made moves to protect films that have already had their run in theaters. "Wind River," TWC's only box office success this year, has had all trace of the studio's logo scrubbed for the home release.
Amazon David O. Russell Project: The Weinstein Company was supposed to produce a new Amazon series created by "Silver Linings Playbook" director David O. Russell, but after they pulled out of the project in the wake of the Weinstein scandal, Amazon decided not to proceed with the series.
"The Romanoffs": TWC was slated to produce this series from "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner, but pulled out after the Weinstein scandal hit. Amazon planned to continue the series, but that may not happen after Weiner was accused of sexual harassment by Kater Gordon, a former assistant of his who was promoted to writer and won an Emmy with him before being shockingly fired a year later.
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From release date changes to full cancellations, Hollywood’s response has become swift
The downfall of Harvey Weinstein has created a domino effect across Hollywood, as women are coming forward to expose the sexual harassment in the industry. As producers and celebrities are accused, the films and TV shows they were involved in have also suffered. Here's a running list of the projects that have been delayed, paused, or outright axed as a result of these scandals.
