Allegations of sexual misconduct against Louis CK raise age-old question: Is art separate from the artist?
American comic/actor/writer Louis CK is the newest name in a list of powerful men from Hollywood being called out for sexual misconduct, rape, assault and harassment. The New York Times today reported that so far, a total of five women have levelled sexual misconduct allegations against him. According to their report, four of the accusers claim that he masturbated during interactions with them, while the fifth said that he had asked to do so.
What is surprising, or perhaps it is completely unsurprising, that the allegations are as old as from the 90s. There existed, after all, a strong culture of silence on the sexual misconducts of rich and powerful men in the entertainment industry.
Comedy duo Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov, after their big break, a chance to perform at the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen in 2002, recalled to NYT, being invited to join CK in his hotel room post the show. As soon as they sat down in his room he asked them if he could take out his penis. The duo may have laughed it off, but he went ahead with his plans all the same. “He proceeded to take all of his clothes off, and get completely naked, and started masturbating,” said Goodman.
Actor and writer Abby Schachner said that in 2003, while on call with CK, she could hear him masturbating as they spoke. Comedian Rebecca Corry said that while she was appearing with CK on a television pilot in 2005, he asked if he could masturbate in front of her. She declined. The fifth woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said that in the late ’90s, while working for The Chris Rock Show where CK was a writer and producer, she was repeatedly asked by the comedian to watch him masturbate. She also described how once she sat in CK’s office as he masturbated in his desk chair during a workday. There were several people working at the studio at that moment, just outside the door.
“It was something that I knew was wrong,” she said. “I think the big piece of why I said yes was because of the culture… He abused his power.”
For those who don’t know, Louis CK’s name in the world of American comedy is possibly as big as that of any of the Khans in Bollywood. He has a huge fan-following and has while many claim his humour can be a little edgy at times, there is no denying that he is without a doubt, one of the funniest men in Hollywood.
That being said, what these women allege what Louis CK did is sexual harassment. The ousting of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has seen something huge. Cracks in the culture of silence. Every new allegation has added to it, and continues to do so. So far, the list (post Weinstein) includes Ben Affleck (two accusations), Kevin Spacey (multiple allegations), Roy Price (one accusation), Oliver Stone(one accusation), Bob Weinstein (one accusation), John Besh (multiple accusations), Mark Halperin ((12 accusations), Jeremy Piven (three accusations), Dustin Hoffman (two accusations), Brett Ratner (six accusations), Ed Westwick (two accusations), Steven Segal (two accusations), and many more. The list keeps growing by the day.
If this lists feels horrifying, a good thing to remember is that these are just the one who have been named by a few brave women (which is not to imply that those not coming forward are not brave). There may be others. In fact, in all likelihood, there are.
What happens when so many distinguished names in the entertainment industry are named as sexual assaulters, molesters, rapists and harassers ie bad men? People start coming in defence of not them, rather their art.
Separating art from the artist
Emily Nussbaum, in her The New Yorker editorial writes, “Here’s one thing that I’m not concerned about right now: the question of what today’s revelations do to the artistic legacy of Louis CK.”
She is right. Right now is not the time to think about what impact Louis CK’s action can have on his art – his writing, his shows, his comedy, and his cinema. What is more important is to wonder about the kind of power he wielded, that despite CK’s sexual misconducts being an open secret in the world of entertainment, the rest of us never got to know.
In light of all the cases of sexual misconduct in Hollywood, one thing is for certain. Art should not be separated from the artist. When we try and view art independent of the artist’s actions, we silently make the misdeeds of the actor or writer or producer or director more acceptable. When the Oscars award a movie made by or featuring a known abuser/assaulter, or when the same movie ears billions in the box office, the message is clear: you may have done bad things, but in the real world that doesn’t matter, because your life will remain unaffected.
Thankfully, the world is more sensible that that. Or at least the American entertainment industry has learnt to appear “woke”. Spacey, post the allegations of him molesting a 14-year-old in the 80s, saw his Netflix show House of Cards getting cancelled. Not just that, the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced it would no longer give the actor a special Emmy award and his role in his upcoming film All the Money in the World is to be recast and all his scenes reshot.
Louis CK too is paying the price for his misdeeds. HBO says CK will no longer participate in its Night of Too Many Stars benefit, and that the company would be removing of his past work from its "On Demand” service. The premiere of CK's new movie I love you, Daddy in New York City has also been abruptly called off.
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