Comedian Kathy Griffin lambasted the comedy industry, calling it a “white boys club,” after news broke of Louis C.K.’s return to the stand-up stage.
On Tuesday, Griffin published a series of tweets in which she explained the exclusivity of the comedy industry. She retweeted a New York Times article reporting that Louis C.K. made an appearance at the Comedy Cellar in New York City on Sunday, the first set he’s performed since admitting to sexual misconduct last November.
“You know how many talented women and POC comics are knocking on doors trying to get some time in front of audiences or powerful people in this business?” Griffin wrote in the first of her five tweets. “And Louis just gets to glide back in on his own terms? Gosh, does it payoff to be in the boys club..the white boys club.”
Griffin compared the “boys club” to male company executives who come together to golf and said that in comedy, male comics “write jokes” together and “give each other gigs.” She then addressed C.K.’s sexual misconduct allegations.
“He’s a multi-millionaire who finally got some sleep after working nonstop for years. This is how we are making people are paying penance in the #MeToo era? F—ing pathetic.”
B) I'm so used to the boys club in comedy things like this don't shock me…but that doesn't mean situations like this don't make me angry and frustrated for the people who have struggled to be heard and seen in a business that appreciate diversity.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) August 28, 2018
D) And they also cover up for each other. It's a sick, cruel cycle and right now I can only imagine what the survivors of Louis' predation are thinking. All I know is we should all be outraged…the boys club won again…
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) August 28, 2018
This isn’t the first time Griffin has tweeted about C.K. Earlier in August, she admonished a reporter who lumped her in with C.K., Bill Cosby and Al Franken in a now-deleted tweet.
“You’re putting me in the same tweet as a convicted rapist, a guy accused by 8 women of groping, and a guy who jerked off in front of women without their consent @johnwenzel?” Griffin wrote. “I took one photo with a halloween mask covered in ketchup.”
You're putting me in the same tweet as a convicted rapist, a guy accused by 8 women of groping, and a guy who jerked off in front of women without their consent @johnwenzel? I took one photo with a halloween mask covered in ketchup. https://t.co/DDcexG6zdg
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) August 17, 2018
C.K. was accused of sexual misconduct by five women last November. He admitted to exposing his penis to two of the women who accused him, saying in a statement, “”these stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was OK because I never showed a woman my d- without asking first, which is also true.”
He appeared at the Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village on Sunday night in a surprise appearance, performing a 15-minute set. Club owner Noam Dworman told TheWrap that “he used to perform there regularly” before the #MeToo accusations.