Louis CK Says the Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Him ‘Are True’

“As of today, I no longer represent Louis C.K.,” his former representative says

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Updated at 4:29 p.m. PT:

APA, the agency that represented Louis C.K. for touring, has also parted ways with the comedian, with a representative telling TheWrap that he is “no longer a client.”

Updated at 2.15 p.m. PT:

Louis C.K.’s longtime publicist, Lewis Kay, announced on Friday that he no longer represents the comedian.

https://twitter.com/lewiskay/status/929103704015474689

Previously:

Scandal-plagued comedian Louis C.K., who Thursday was accused of sexual misconduct by five women in a New York Times article, released a statement on Friday, conceding that his accusers’ stories “are true.”

“These stories are true,” C.K. said.

The “Louie” star added, “At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my d— without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your d— 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.”

Among the accusers in the Times piece are comedy duo Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov, who told the Times they were invited by the comedian to his hotel room after their show at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado, in 2012. According to the report, when they arrived at his room, C.K. asked Goodman and Wolov if he could take out his penis.

“And then he really did it,” Goodman told the Times. “He proceeded to take all of his clothes off, and get completely named, and started masturbating.”

Another accuser, Abby Schachner, said that she could hear the comedian masturbating during a 2003 phone conversation with him.

 In yet another accusation, comedian Rebecca Corry said that C.K. asked her if he could masturbate in front of her while she was appearing with him on a 2005 television pilot, though she rebuffed his request.

A fifth accuser, who chose to remain anonymous, said that the comedian was working on production at “The Chris Rock Show” in the late ’90s when C.K., who was working as a writer and producer on the show, asked her to watch him masturbate.

“It was something that I knew was wrong,” the woman said. “I think the big piece of why I said yes was because of the culture … He abused his power.”

Since the publication of the Times article, distributor The Orchard chose not to go forward with the release of C.K.’s film “I Love You, Daddy.” HBO pulled the comedian from the lineup of the upcoming “A Night of Too Many Stars” special, and removed his series “Lucky Louis” and his comedy specials from HBO’s streaming service. And Netflix has scrapped a forthcoming comedy special by the embattled star.

Read C.K.’s full statement below.

I want to address the stories told to the New York Times by five women named Abby, Rebecca, Dana, Julia who felt able to name themselves and one who did not.

These stories are true.  At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, is that 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.

I have been remorseful of my actions. And I’ve tried to learn from them. And run from them. Now I’m aware of the extent of the impact of my actions. I learned yesterday the extent to which I left these women who admired me feeling badly about themselves and cautious around other men who would never have put them in that position.

I also took advantage of the fact that I was widely admired in my and their community, which disabled them from sharing their story and brought hardship to them when they tried because people who look up to me didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t think that I was doing any of that because my position allowed me not to think about it.
There is nothing about this that I forgive myself for.  And I have to reconcile it with who I am.  Which is nothing compared to the task I left them with.

I wish I had reacted to their admiration of me by being a good example to them as a man and given them some guidance as a comedian, including because I admired their work.

The hardest regret to live with is what you’ve done to hurt someone else.  And I can hardly wrap my head around the scope of hurt I brought on them. I’d be remiss to exclude the hurt that I’ve brought on people who I work with and have worked with who’s professional and personal lives have been impacted by all of this, including projects currently in production: the cast and crew of Better Things, Baskets, The Cops, One Mississippi, and I Love You Daddy. I deeply regret that this has brought negative attention to my manager Dave Becky who only tried to mediate a situation that I caused. I’ve brought anguish and hardship to the people at FX who have given me so much The Orchard who took a chance on my movie. and every other entity that has bet on me through the years.
I’ve brought pain to my family, my friends, my children and their mother.

I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want.  I will now step back and take a long time to listen.

Thank you for reading.

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