Did Louis C.K. Come Back Too Soon?

It’s hard to know what to make of Louis C.K.’s unannounced appearance at a comedy club in New York last week.  He just showed up at the Comedy Cellar on McDougal in the West Village and did a routine. The club owner claims he was sleeping when the emcee let C.K. take the mic.  In the routine, C.K. mentioned nothing about his past sexual misconduct.  There was no mea culpa or reference to his absence from the scene since last October and, according to reports, his act was well-received by the audience. They cheered, they clapped.  No one, apparently, walked out.

C.K. had been “outed” for masturbating in front of female comedians who had come to him for advice and support.  Rumors circulated for years about this particular perversity, but C.K. admitted to the acts in the Fall of 2017 thanks in part to the #MeToo movement and the traction women gained in calling out harassers.

He was promptly banished from television and all distributing outlets. His new release, “I Love You, Daddy,” was put on indefinite hold.  He basically disappeared from public life.  That was until last week when, surprise, he went back to comedy basics and appeared as a stand-up in New York City.

C.K. appears to be the first outed harasser, duly shamed and banished, who’s tried to make a comeback and work. Although his audience didn’t react with outrage, outrage followed from the media.  Amanda Hess in the New York Times wrote, “Look Who’s Creeping Back.” And fellow comedians like Michael Ian Black, who at first supported the comeback, backflipped when their tweeted comments brought criticism.

Let’s face it — it’s hard to talk about this stuff.  How long does a celebrity shamed by past bad acts — acts for which he hasn’t been prosecuted, but which he’s admitted — have to remain persona non grata before his fan base can once again enjoy the fruits of his talent?  Does this change depending on the nature of the act or the extent of the offense?

Whether the genre be film (Kevin Spacey), comedy (Woody Allen, Louis C.K.), cooking (Mario Batali), dance (Peter Martins), art (Chuck Close), literature (Junot Diaz), radio (Leonard Lopate, Garrison Keilor), television (Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer), music (James Levine), or politics (Al Franken) — is there an acceptable period that, once over, a performer or person of power can re-emerge, the slate not necessarily wiped clean but at least less covered in dirt?

We’re a nation that’s supposedly “Christian,” one of the few countries that incorporates the notion of “god” in our Pledge of Allegiance.  Yet, I often find our notion of forgiveness shallow.

People convicted of crimes and who have completed their sentences never lose the stigma of being “felons.”  In most states, there literally is no way to wipe that from their record.  They are unable to work, live in public housing, obtain professional licenses and, in some states, even vote.  Once guilty, always guilty.

It’s axiomatic that what you’ve done in your past becomes part of who you are, no matter how far you’ve run or how much you’ve changed.  But is it fair to measure people only for the ills they’ve caused?  (Catholic congregants are going through this crisis now.)  I suppose if the ill is so grand, like that spawned by Hitler or Stalin, there is no escaping the resulting evil.  But for lesser ills — yes, even for masturbating in front of women — there should be a recognition that there are degrees of harm.

The difference between C.K.’s perversity and the allegations against Harvey Weinstein for example, are great — in terms of the number of victims, the influence wielded, and the alleged acts themselves.

I’m not condoning C.K.’s masturbation fetish, but a “survivor” of someone who watched a guy masturbate and a “survivor” of rape experience very different ills.  (Personally speaking, I and almost every female colleague I know who’s practiced criminal law can tell a story of having had a client masturbate in front of us.  It ain’t pretty, but most of us didn’t quit the field because of it.)

It may be that Louis C.K.’s “comeback” happened faster than the time he promised in his press release last October to “step back and take a long time to listen.”  But that’s his choice and the choice of the venues that showcase him.

The public can vote to banish him further by boycotting his shows, protesting outside of them, or tweeting their outrage.  But I’d rather have the opportunity to make my own decision about Louis C.K. or any other admitted harasser than have it foisted upon me.  Woody Allen’s career and standing never fully recovered following allegations that he abused his children.  But he continued to make movies, some of which were his best ever.

Artists have dark sides — we all do.  But they have something more: talent.  In many cases, that talent speaks to all of us with humanity or joy or pathos or inventiveness or inspiration.

Shame them for their bad acts, but let’s not condemn what they’ve created or can further create.

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Toni Messina has tried over 100 cases and has been practicing criminal law and immigration since 1990. You can follow her on Twitter: @tonitamess.