Louis CK Begins His Redemption Crusade

[Content Note: Sex abuse; emotional manipulation.]

Yesterday, I noted: "Louis CK is a confident and sophisticated predator. And he is banking on a redemption arc, to allow him to keep doing it. Don't give it to him. Draw the line here, or he'll hurt more women."

And so it begins.

Ask yourself how I was able to predict this. It's because I have been writing about predators for more than a decade. https://t.co/GifMBMVp4K

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 10, 2017

This afternoon, Louis CK issued the following statement, which is both dishonest and deeply self-serving, but naturally is being received as heroic in its courageous truth-telling:

I want to address the stories told to The New York Times by five women named Abby, Rebecca, Dana, Julia who felt able to name themselves and one who did not.

These stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was O.K. because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn't a question. It's a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly. I have been remorseful of my actions. And I've tried to learn from them. And run from them. Now I'm aware of the extent of the impact of my actions. I learned yesterday the extent to which I left these women who admired me feeling badly about themselves and cautious around other men who would never have put them in that position. I also took advantage of the fact that I was widely admired in my and their community, which disabled them from sharing their story and brought hardship to them when they tried because people who look up to me didn't want to hear it. I didn't think that I was doing any of that because my position allowed me not to think about it. There is nothing about this that I forgive myself for. And I have to reconcile it with who I am. Which is nothing compared to the task I left them with. I wish I had reacted to their admiration of me by being a good example to them as a man and given them some guidance as a comedian, including because I admired their work.

The hardest regret to live with is what you've done to hurt someone else. And I can hardly wrap my head around the scope of hurt I brought on them. I'd be remiss to exclude the hurt that I've brought on people who I work with and have worked with who's [sic] professional and personal lives have been impacted by all of this, including projects currently in production: the cast and crew of Better Things, Baskets, The Cops, One Mississippi, and I Love You, Daddy. I deeply regret that this has brought negative attention to my manager Dave Becky who only tried to mediate a situation that I caused. I've brought anguish and hardship to the people at FX who have given me so much The Orchard who took a chance on my movie. and every other entity that has bet on me through the years. I've brought pain to my family, my friends, my children and their mother.

I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen. Thank you for reading.

Fuck you, Louie.

Apologies should be for and to his victims. Not for his fans. I think his statement makes pretty clear who it's really for. https://t.co/PxDzb2ViFY

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 10, 2017

Imagine being the kind of person who sexually assaults women and then writes a statement saying those women "admired" you. Not once, but four times.

I had a few further thoughts about Louis CK's statement:

I will also note that he is very likely not being honest in this statement, implying the women in the NYT story are the only women he's harmed. He did not address having referenced shoving a woman in a bathroom, for instance.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 10, 2017

Putting out a confessional statement that engenders goodwill can also make it more difficult for additional victims to come forward. Once the "redemption" begins, women who come forward can be targeted for "piling on."

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 10, 2017

At minimum, I advise regarding this statement with an abundance of cynicism. And allow plenty of time to see if any more people come forward. And how Louis CK behaves in a wave of inevitable support.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 10, 2017

The immediate (and entirely expected) pushback I got, in addition to the usual "Louis CK is a hero and you're a dumb bitch!" variety, was questions about what he could have done that would have been acceptable, productive, satisfying, helpful.

People want me to give a pat answer to the question: What should sex predators who get caught do to make things better?

There's no good answer to that question because they can't.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 10, 2017

The resonating destruction of sex abuse is why people like me flatten ourselves fighting to dismantle the rape culture and stop predators.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 10, 2017

And if you can't sit easily with the reality that there's no good course for Louis CK right now, good. You shouldn't. You should sit in that discomfort and then use it to motivate you to fight sexual abuse.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 10, 2017

And that? Can't happen. If you care about sexual abuse, you have to trade in the luxury of inattention for the discomfort of vigilance.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 10, 2017

What I believe is that Louis CK has abused far more women than we know. What I believe is that he is concealing those additional crimes, in part behind his statement of "confession." What I don't believe is that he is sorry. Or that he has any intention of stopping.

I hope I'm wrong. I fear that I'm not.

I take up space in solidarity with his victims, known and unknown.