Issued on: 04/04/2022 – 21:30 Revised: 04/04/2022 – 21:28
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Louis CK and the Recording Academy faced backlash on Monday after the US comedian received a Grammy, five years after revelations of sexual misconduct temporarily derailed his high-flying career.
CK – who admitted to masturbating in front of several women after a newspaper revelation in 2017 – won best comedy album on Sunday for a show delving into his scandal, but did not attend the Las Vegas ceremony.
Many on social media questioned or criticized the ease with which academy voters appeared to have condoned or overlooked his behavior in the past.
“Amazing. Louis CK has serially abused women but is able to continue his career and even gets a Grammy,” tweeted Atima Omara, a writer and political strategist.
Describing herself as a “former fan” of CK, Twitter user @iron_eliza said she “really, REALLY disagreed with whoever decided to break Louis CK off the UN.”
In November 2017, The New York Times published allegations against CK by five women who accused him of masturbating in front of them or over the phone or asking to masturbate in separate incidents from the late 1990s to 2005.
CK quickly issued a statement confirming that “these stories are true,” and his mainstream career erupted in flames.
The scandal emerged just a month after revelations about Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein sparked the global #MeToo movement.
In 2020, CK released the comedy special Sincerely Louis CK – taped the previous year – in which he said he “learned a lot.”
“I learned how to eat alone in a restaurant while people point the finger at me from the other side,” he said.
Last August, CK embarked on its first major international tour since the revelations.
Comedian and television writer Jen Kirkman was among several on Sunday to compare CK’s treatment to the response to Will Smith, who slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars last month.
Kirkman wrote on Twitter that male comedians sounded the alarm when Chris Rock was beaten, but that “SILENT 2nite on Louis CK, who wins a Grammy for an album where he jokes about his assault” was about women.
© 2022 AFP