Louis C.K. reportedly heard mocking Parkland survivors
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Twitter furious as Louis C.K. reportedly heard mocking Parkland survivors, non-binary youth
Louis C.K. wearing a suit and tie: Louis C.K.in Beverly Hills on Aug. 9, 2017.
Everyone is talking about embroiled comedian Louis C.K. yet again – and not in a good way.
A comedy writer's tweet, shared on Sunday, reportedly featured portions of the 51-year-old's new stand-up set that included jokes about the students who survived the Parkland school shooting and young people who prefer the pronouns they/them.
Twitter users quickly slammed the set, saying the jokes went too far, and that the comedian, who is struggling to make a comeback after admitting to sexual misconduct , should just stay out of the limelight.
The leaked audio was shared by Jack Alison. Alison's Twitter bio states he has worked as a writer for Jimmy Kimmel and the Academy Awards and currently co-hosts "Jack AM" and "Struggle Sessions."
Alison wrote upon sharing the audio, "i went to great pains not to like uh 'take this out of context' here - this is the whole bit!"
USA TODAY has not been able to verify the authenticity of the NSFW audio clip and has reached out to C.K.'s attorney for comment. In the recording, which Forbes reported was taken during a Dec. 19 set, C.K. is heard joking about the younger generation.
“They testify in front of Congress, these kids? What are they doing? You’re young! You should be crazy! You should be unhinged! Not in a suit… You’re not interesting. Because you went to a high school where kids got shot? Why does that mean I have to listen to you? Why does that make you interesting? You didn’t got shot. You pushed some fat kid in the way, and now I’ve got to listen to you talking?”
The joke is a clear reference to the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who spoke to Congress following the Valentine's Day shooting at their school that left 17 dead.
He also quipped that the younger generation is too PC.
“They’re like royalty. They tell you what to call them. ‘You should address me as they/them. Because I identity as gender neutral.’ OK. You should address me as ‘there,’ because I identity as a location."
Per CNN , he also mocked people with disabilities, and the audience can be heard laughing throughout the controversial set.
Twitter users, however, were not amused.
One user seethed: #LouisCk comedy is abusive just like the way he sexually harasses women is abusive. Making fun of gunned downed children? Isnt funny at ALL. it's disgusting #ParklandShooting Louis CK has always been overrated. Now it's time for him to change careers.
Another chimed in: "Remember when Louis CK was this (revolutionary) insightful comedian and not a disgusting pervert who mocked the disabled and teenage survivors of a mass shooting? Crazy, huh."
User @donson_jay wrote, "I like dark humour... But this is truly awful to listen to. It’s not funny at all. Louis C.K is a disgusting man in every aspect and he’s not a comedian, he’s a (expletive). I hope his career stays dead, we don’t need him."
Some were disappointed to see the comedian make such controversial jokes after he was taken down during the #MeToo movement and admitted to inappropriate conduct.
"#LouisCK obviously has learned NOTHING from his recent descent into notoriety. Being controversial is always a plus, but being offensive ends careers these days. #RealTalk He just got back! Really Louis?" user K_Tenn wrote.
Some suggested the star was going after conservative fans with his new bit.
"Louis had to go all right wing to get an audience, no decent people were going to buy a ticket it the first place let alone listen to his (expletive)..." one user lamented .
Another predicted : I’m calling it, now: Louis CK will become a regular guest on some right-wing “intellectual dark web” podcast show next year."
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The guy went too far.
I suspect this attempt at ultimate edginess will backfire on him.
Louis CK is hilarious and so are these jokes. Unfortunately, the SJWs of America are hellbent on destroying America's sense of humor and too many Americans are no longer capable of laughing at themselves.
No, that was never Louis. Stop pretending. He has always made jokes on sensitive subjects. He's smart, funny, and brave. Like many good comedians, he makes the audience face the humor in edgy topics. Good comedians have always found ways to help us laugh at painful subjects.
The reason this prediction works is because this person already understands that people who share his politics will do everything they can to publicly shame and shun anyone who dares make fun of them, even if it's only one or two jokes out of 30 the guy is doing.
I'm not sure it is a good career move to attribute to 17 year old kids what would have been your own motives and actions in the situation. I didn't hear of anyone pushing someone else into the line of fire, and it's not funny.
Louis CK is not an underground comedian. He is someone who has had and aspires to mainstream tv shows to showcase his comedy. Such people have to maintain some standards or suffer , and he will probably suffer from this.
I don't know what to tell you. It's a joke. You're not supposed to take it seriously. On SNL, he once made a joke that he felt bad that the local child molester never picked him. Do you think he's serious?
Louis CK is not a care free comedian. He is known to be a troubled individual.
You have your opinion and I have mine. We'll see if he gets back on top.
Yeah....it kinda is......
Louis delivers a kick to the balls of the deep state media and then the deep state media ramps up its propaganda with articles like the one seeded here.
OK, he can be a right wing/libertarian hero. No skin off my nose.
More like a kick to the balls to the parents who lost their children. Guess what. It ain't funny, even a little bit. I'd like any person who has lost a child to weigh in on how hilarious it would be to hear jokes about the death of children. I am not for censorship. But if someone wants to make jokes at the expense of the people who have lost the most, they'd better be prepared for the fallout. It has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH 'STATE MEDIA' AND 'DEEP STATE MEDIA', whatever the hell that is.
Those kids aren't the subject of the joke.
Yeah....it kinda is.
I'd like to hear them weigh in on the use of their children's death for the political and financial gain of people who hid in a closet filming while their kids were being murdered.
Who in the world are you talking about? Kids that were trying to hide in closets to avoid being shot?
The callousness of your comments here is astonishing.
David Hogg, for one.
And shooting video. Which got him on television. And into Harvard. With bad SAT scores.
Whereas the automatic bleeding heart emotional outrage of yours is utterly predictable.
The I Phone with the video capability came on the scene about 11 years ago, I believe. Parkland is considered to be at least a moderately affluent community , I believe, so those teenagers have likely had I Phones and video on their phones for as long as they can remember. These days people video everything they can. I don't understand it, but I'm not 17.
Hogg went home after the shooting and got his video camera and tripod, and came back to the school with the hopes of interviewing someone. I think that's a little weird, but he has had aspirations of being a video journalist before this shooting ever happened, and had made a "news show" as part of a school project or activity.
As far as the student activism, more power to them. They are old enough to vote now, and old enough to make their case.
None of this is relevant to the ignorance of CK's joke anyway. If they were in the closet, how were they able to push the fat kids in the way of the bullets?
Not sure how any of that is relevant but OK.
Whatever. The fact remains that this kid has parlayed the tragic deaths of his classmates for a lot of personal gain.
And therefore old enough to be ridiculed for it.
Of course it is. Hiding in the closet does not make one an expert on gun control, any more than hearing a car wreck from around the corner makes one an expert on traffic flow. That is the point of the joke.
You see....jokes are not intended to be taken literally. I realize there isn't a lot of room for humor in the Angry Leftist Universe, what with all the time spent fixated on Trump and all...but that's how jokes work. Non-literal.
So... It's a massive deep state conspiracy that makes this guy almost as funny as children with cancer? He's not funny. Never has been.
Does it really matter? American gun nuts love their guns, and nobody is ever going to change it - not even a group of high school survivors, or parents of slaughtered toddlers. Virtually nothing at all has changed since Columbine. There is no reasoning with that segment of society.
Quite the Op-ed....
First off how was Louis C K asking women to watch him masturbate abusive .. please give details .. he touched no one and did not demand 'they' stayed to watch, 'they' were free to leave at anytime ...
As far as the jokes, there is nothing wrong with 'them' .. we now live in a nation where many seem to desire to be offended - many even seem to seek out ways to be offended … the beauty of America is that young people [all people] speak their minds, and there are far more than one side to each story .. so there is plenty of room for various opinions ………………… but not anymore?
Stoneman Douglas students seem to be the sacred ones of school shootings .. 'they' were elevated in media, celebrities jumped on 'their' band wagon .. why should these students be spared criticism .. because 'they' are right, and everyone else is wrong? Not everyone shares their opinions, but everyone should show reverence towards the Stoneman Douglas students?
Secure 'our' nations schools and quit leaving 'our' children as sitting ducks for the knuckleheads of the world is a solution..... not picking and choosing which school shooting best serve the agenda … the poor students in Sante Fe were seemingly swept under the rug by the Stoneman Douglas school shooting .. 10 dead, but 'they' were not killed with an assault style rifle, so 'they' did not fit the agenda being pushed?
Quick everyone get offended .. let the wailing and gnashing of teeth begin?
I don't see the topic here as being whether or not the Douglas Stoneman students received too much attention, but rather as when does comedy go too far?
The article implies that Louis CK is having trouble re-establishing his career after the sex allegations and he may be going for the unacceptably controversial in a bid to reinvent himself as a conservative comedian. I don't know, but I dont think it would be out of the question.
If the quote is accurate, he joked that the kids testifying before Congress about gun control pushed their own (fat kids) in front of the bullets to save their own skins.
That's just not going to work for a mainstream comedian.
Lenny Bruce really pushed the boundaries for freedom of speech and comedy. Now he’s hailed as great freedom fighter that opened the doors for comedians like Louis CK.
I hear you John .. and I do not think that Louis CK went too far ..
CK is being vilified for making 'jokes' about students that survived a school shooting - namely Stoneman Douglas students, and yes I think CK's comments / 'jokes' stem from the attention these students received over others that survived school shootings... paraded around on TV talk shows, testifying before congress etc.. a father of a student even tried to discredit Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing .. some of the stuff just went too far .. but that was okay?
From the beginning, the students of Stoneman were thrust into the spot light, by their own choosing - and how dare anyone criticize or disagree with them, as they were 'just kids' .. but wow could one in particular dish the shit, but could not take it... his 1st amendment was violated by the school requiring clear backpacks .. but he did not seem to give a damn about the rights of others...
As far as the 'fat kid' goes .. perhaps inappropriate .. yet you have no clue what one may have done to survive .. so stop being so literal - you do not need to find CK funny and can ignore him rather than be offended by him... that is yet another beautiful thing about America....
Trump is not a child. He just acts like one.
You'd think he'd get props for seeking consent.
Well he is sure getting props from people who have never lost a child. Congrats, we can tell.
Have to agree Taco … but NO these women could not turn their heads - were so weak that they felt they had to watch? What does that say about the women themselves?
I know my opinion is never very popular … but WOW, how CK's actions can be seen as part of #metoo is confusing at best...
Yeah right, how could I forget .. once again something that depends on whether another is offended or not...
P.s... had CK exposed himself to minors .. I would feel differently about his actions
No props. But I’m not getting the vapors because a comedian told a joke.
Not if he has consent.
And I'm telling you, from the perspective of a parent who has lost a child, it is NEVER funny to us. And I have to wonder who does think its funny and what that says about them. I'm not getting the vapors in the least, by the way. Not even a little. I'm making a character judgement.
Then don't listen to him. That's how America works. There are plenty of comedians I can't stand because they are either unfunny or I find them to be in poor taste too much of them time. I don't get upset. I don't hope they fail. I don't want them silenced. And I don't get angry. I just ignore them.
It shouldn't, but sometimes the lack of empathy and compassion and understanding shocks the hell out of me. I'm well into my loss and have no problem ignoring assholiness when I want to, but on this forum I'm trying to teach YOU and others like you something about what others go through, evidently an impossible task. Not even a smidge of understanding.
Of course bad comedy is the same as cutting down parents who have lost the most precious thing in their entire lives.
God.
This apparently will come as a shock to you, but we aren't here to comfort you over your personal loss. This seed is about Louis CK, not you. Everybody here has had tragedy in their lives, but I don't see you going out of your way to be compassionate and agreeable to everyone who disagrees with you just in case.
I can't monitor everyone here so I won't speak for them, but I haven't done anything to you. All I have done is say if that if you don't like the comedian, don't listen to his jokes. That's a very simple truth of life, but you want to act like I or others here are somehow victimizing you with this perspective. That's ridiculous.
Dear god man, do you not get that a loss of a child is never a funny thing. That this poor lady is trying to explain that to you. That even comedy should have its boundaries and common decency.
When Jonathan was alive and on this forum, which was not too long ago, he wrote about the Parkland murders. His wife was a teacher there and had witnessed 2 of her students murdered in front of her. Maybe you would get it if you witnessed what she did.
Children dying is not funny. He can say it as we have freedom of speech, but he has to expect the blowback, and he got it, I'm glad. I am not sure what you are defending here, other than some tacky guy, who thinks murdered children is funny.
I'm having a hard time believing I'm reading this. I never said the death of anyone was funny. I can't imagine a dumber comment.
And nobody said he can't say whatever he wants. I believe there was a comment by you about how funny the jokes were. See comment 2:
I totally get gallows humor. I am totally against censorship. I am also for consequences, and this kind of 'humor' was meant to cut down, not be funny. Maybe that's why you found it so hilarious. It wasn't nice. I found it mean and cruel. I do not wish loss on anybody, so maybe some of you can look a little deeper when you come in contact with people like that in your lives and be more sensitive. But you can still be yourself around me, I can handle anything.
As soon as you see the words “Twitter is furious” you know it’s professional victims doing their thing.
I wonder what conservatives reactions would have been had Louis CK made a joke about Republican congressmen pushing Steve Scalise in front of the bullets in order to save themselves.
I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be what we are seeing on this thread.
"Joking" about teen age high school students pushing "fat kids" in front of the bullets isn't funny. I'm not at all surprised he's been blasted on twitter.
Sure, it a tasteless joke. But I'm more tired of the perpetual outrage machine. In the last day I've seen "news" articles about how the most popular sitcom of all time, Seinfeld, is now "problematic" and another complaining about I Love Lucy and John Hughes movies like sixteen candles. I don't know how people have this much energy to whine about everything that ever happened, but that's what Twitter exists for.
We went through this with Tipper Gore in the late 80s. Forgive me if I sit out on Tipper's Crusade, Part II.
I'm tolerant enough to hear a bad joke without demanding someone be destroyed over it.
Tell us how funny it all is when you are the one who lost your precious child and you hear all the bullshit from people just like you. I'm sure it will be hilarious.
I know my Compassionate Friends group will enjoy the hell out of dead kid jokes from assholes who have never lost a child.
There's a lot of emotion flying around here, but I think everyone agrees that these jokes are in extremely poor taste. Pushing the fat kid in front? Really?? I'd be tempted to drive him in the teeth if I heard him spew that one, but the question is whether or not he should be free to utilize this routine.
What, exactly, are we fighting about? Of course he has the right to joke about anything he wants to. Does anyone actually want to bring in laws over this? Make it illegal to joke about real life children who have died perhaps? If not, there's no dispute here.
I am not sure I read every comment on this seed, but I am also not sure anyone suggested that a comedian NOT BE ALLOWED to make any sort of "jokes" he likes.
I don't believe the issue is whether or not this is permissible. The seeded article is not an editorial , it is a news item. Louis CK said these things and he got a lot of criticism on social media. Some think it may hurt his show business "comeback". Is he planning to go to the "right" in order to find fans? We shall see.
This is who Louis is. I can’t the number of times he’s caught me off guard and said something shocking, and I laughed instinctively. I guarantee there were people in the audience that audibly and subconsciously laughed at that. He has a gift for coaxing laughter out of listeners over language they just weren’t expecting, even though it is shockingly horrible language.
I think there is a fine line separating a brilliant social commentary and something that is actually and reasonably seen as unacceptably offensive. Joking that 15 and 16 year olds pushed their friends in front of bullets just goes too far.
If he was still on top of the world this incident might be seen one way, since he is down it might be seen in another less forgiving way. They love to kick you when you're down.
Personally, I prefer the old "take my wife please" jokes. or Rodney Dangerfield.
Until Louis CK does something illegal (which I could never see happening), I will always be a huge fan. Yeah, he’s warped as fuck, but these times are warped. He’s not political in general, but I remember when he made a public plea for the country to vote for anyone but Donald Trump in the primaries. He showed that his humor isn’t representative of his personality, and his personity is bizarre but not criminal.
If a comedian can't be funny without gratuitous, vile language and the exploitation of horrific tragedies then they're in the wrong business. The market place will ultimately determine the success or failure of these individuals.