Judd Apatow criticized Louis C.K.’s recent stand-up set where he made jokes about Parkland shooting survivors and gender non- binary young people.
“This hacky, unfunny, shallow routine is just a symptom of how people are afraid to feel empathy,” Apatow said of the set in a tweet on Monday morning. “It’s much easier to laugh at our most vulnerable than to look at their pain directly & show them love and concern. Louis CK is all fear and bitterness now. He can’t look inward.”
In audio that comes a December stand-up performance, C.K. can be heard mocking the survivors of the Parkland school shooting and young people who identify as non-binary.
“#louisck has a leaked set, and it’s the definition of bad writing and punching down,” writer Emma Smith said on Twitter. “The plea for relevance really gives the whole 2 minutes a sour undertone – sorry, dude, but the red light means your time is officially up.
C.K., whose career was derailed as a result of sexual misconduct accusations that he admitted were true, said in 2017 that he would use his time away from the spotlight to “step back and take a long time to listen,” but his recent set being criticized for not making amends.
“Despite his vow, about a year ago, to ‘step back and take a long time to listen,’ seems like he views his (entirely self-inflicted) downfall as license to now behave however he wants,” New York Times writer Dave Itzkoff wrote on Twitter. “Telling moment in the bootleg Louis CK set is when, after a particularly crude bit, he jokingly tells the crowd, “What are you – going to take away my birthday? My life is over. I don’t give a s—.’”
Comedian Paul F. Tompkins satirized the routine as an example of a comic talking about how things were in the past.
“I’m saying, Come on, the global warming thing? How did the ice melt during the ice ages,” Tompkins wrote on Twitter. “Was the dinosaurs driving SUVs around back then?”
A journalist for Elle suggested that this type of comedy would be the only way that C.K. would be able to make a “comeback,” while a writer for The Daily Beast went further by suggesting that the routine panders to the alt-right.
“I wrote back in August that Louis CK’s only conceivable “comeback” was to become the kind of hacky, s—-y, “what is UP with GENDER PRONOUNS” comic that rapists can see as “their voice” and that his previous career was built on subverting,” Sady Doyle writes.
See some other reactions to the leaked audio below:
This hacky, unfunny, shallow routine is just a symptom of how people are afraid to feel empathy. It’s much easier to laugh at our most vulnerable than to look at their pain directly & show them love and concern. Louis CK is all fear and bitterness now. He can’t look inward. https://t.co/aQVG0rk87y
— Judd Apatow ?? (@JuddApatow) December 31, 2018
despite his vow, about a year ago, to "step back and take a long time to listen," seems like he views his (entirely self-inflicted) downfall as license to now behave however he wants.
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) December 31, 2018
“I'm saying, Come on, the global warming thing? How did the ice melt during the ice ages? Was the dinosaurs driving SUVs around back then?” pic.twitter.com/eL4h1Y316L
— Paul F. Tompkins (@PFTompkins) December 31, 2018
To anyone who knows Louis CK, please deliver this message for me. My daughter was killed in the Parkland shooting. My son ran from the bullets. My wife and I deal with loss everyday. Why don't you come to my house and try out your new pathetic jokes? https://t.co/tZI9ThSciR
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) December 31, 2018
https://twitter.com/jackallisonLOL/status/1079538170960572416
#louisck has a leaked set, and it’s the definition of bad writing and punching down. The plea for relevance really gives the whole 2 minutes a sour undertone – sorry, dude, but the red light means your time is officially up.
— it’s baba o’riley, bitch (@CoachHerbie) December 31, 2018
LouisCK even trying for a comeback is crap, but him mocking the Parkland survivors is beyond despicable. There is no comedy there at all.
— David Wilson Brown (@davidwbrown) December 31, 2018
#LouisCK’s new set apparently has a section attacking #nonbinary people. He thinks it’s wrong to use “they” as a singular pronoun. I, on the other hand, think it’s wrong to sexually assault people.
— Rev. E. Carrington Heath (they/them) (@echeath) December 31, 2018
https://twitter.com/freedarko/status/1079586788233011200
https://twitter.com/Cidaghast/status/1079572040548417536
This is a reminder that the time we spend looking backwards and getting pissed about Louis CK would be better spent falling in love with @DivaDelux and moving into a better, more fabulous future. https://t.co/jhMtSfByEH
— Guy Branum (@guybranum) December 31, 2018
Today’s Twitter mob digital assassination of Louis C.K. for “offensive” jokes (all good comedy is offensive to someone) reminds us once again that millennials have completely ruined comedy.
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) December 31, 2018
Louis C.K.: “I hate these annoying kids who demand to be addressed in nonsensical ways!”
Also Louis C.K.: Insists his last name is two letters.
— Daniel Radosh (@danielradosh) December 31, 2018
Louis C.K. DESTROYS Diabetic Millennial Who Can’t Afford Insulin (Full Video)
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) December 31, 2018
Somehow the Louis C.K. bootleg is WORSE than the Kevin Spacey video. With the very real risk that they've both left it up to Roseanne to have the final move, staying off Twitter tomorrow might be a great idea.
— Daniel Fienberg (@TheFienPrint) December 31, 2018