Louis C.K. is looking back on the sexual misconduct allegations that derailed his comedy career.
During a recent interview on Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast, C.K., 58, admitted that he “felt free” in 2017 when five women accused him of sexual misconduct and he admitted the allegations were true.
“When life f–ks it up for you, when it gets torn up, it’s a relief,” he explained. “That’s why I felt free, because I had tried to manage these problems I had inside of me for so many years.”
“I tried to feel like I was a normal person. Or that I was what I thought of as a good person, but I was doing s–t in the background of my life that I was ashamed of,” the “Louie” creator continued. “I was hurting other people and trying to tell myself I wasn’t.”
C.K. added: “Those things on the edge, like using another person but you got their permission first, you’re still using another person. You’re not being with them, you’re using them. That took me a long time to learn about that stuff. “
“All of that is, like, you can’t manage it. And so when you’re in front of the world and that’s going on inside of you, it’s real hell,” he also said.
In Nov. 2017, the New York Times published a bombshell exposé in which five women claimed that the stand-up comedian exposed himself and masturbated in front of them without their consent.
“These stories are true,” C.K. said after the allegations emerged. “At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my d–k without asking first, which is also true.”
“The power I had over these women is that they admired me,” he added. “And I wielded that power irresponsibly.”
FX, Netflix, Showtime and HBO quickly cut ties with C.K. In 2019, he joked that he lost an estimated $35 million in income due to the scandal.
On Von’s podcast, C.K. said that in hindsight he views the scandal as “a beautiful thing.”
“I look at that as, like, God’s hands, or whatever you want to call it,” he said. “That was just like a good, caring thing that said, ‘Dude, you need to stop. You need to stop. You need out of all this.’”
C.K. also explained how sharing his story in Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous meetings helped other people.
“When I go to a meeting in person and there’s a guy who’s really hurting, his life’s f–ked up and I approach him and he’s not sure about being in this program,” C.K. said. “He goes, ‘Oh, I ruined my life.’ And I go, ‘Do you know who I am?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah.’ And I go, ‘I’m doing pretty good, buddy.’”
“The fact that my wreckage can be a mountain for folks to lean on, take a little load off — that’s a beautiful gift,” C.K. added.
The Emmy Award winner reiterated that he’s sorry for what he did.
“I really wish I could have a simple kind of watershed where I can say just ‘Yes’ to everything that happened, and I’m sorry,” he told Von. “I really am. And I’m just trying to do better, and I don’t think I can prove that to everybody, ’cause it’s a private thing. It’s a one-to-one man thing. It’s not a famous guy act.”
Despite C.K.’s fall from grace, he returned to the spotlight to win a Grammy in 2022 for his “Sincerely Louis C.K.” album. He returned to the stand-up circuit, as well, and announced an international 2025-2026 tour, called the “Ridiculous Tour”, earlier this year.
