Louis CK Is a Liar

[Content Note: Rape culture.]

One of the first high-profile friends of Louis CK's to make any kind of public statement about his serial sex abuse is Marc Maron, a comedian and podcaster. Under the generous headline "Marc Maron Reckons With Louis C.K.'s Misconduct," the New York Times' Dave Itzkoff, who's carving out a great White Man Redemption Story niche for himself, reports:

Mr. Maron, a friend and colleague of Louis C.K.'s, said on his podcast that he was aware of at least one of the incidents detailed in the Times report. But when Mr. Maron asked if it was true, he said Louis C.K. had denied it.

"Sadly, I knew what most people knew," Mr. Maron said. "There was a story, out there, I guess going back several years. That there were unnamed people in the story. It took place in a hotel room in Aspen. It was always out there, but then it would pick up momentum at different times."

Describing his conversations with Louis C.K., Mr. Maron said: "I would say, 'This story about you forcing these women to watch you jerk off — what is that? Is that true?' He goes, 'No, it's not true. It's not real. It's a rumor.'"

"And I would say, 'Well, are you going to address it somehow, to handle it, to get out from under it, whenever it shows up?'" Mr. Maron continued. "He goes, 'No, I can't. I can't do that. It'll give it life. It'll give it air.' And that — that was the conversation. The other incidents, how would everybody know about that?"

..."I want to believe women, but in this particular instance, there was no one named in that story," he said. "There was no place for women to go tell this story. There was no women attached to it. I didn't know their names until Friday. So I believed my friend."

Whoops.

First, note that well, because it undercuts Louis CK's statement in which he claimed that he just didn't realize what he was doing was wrong. That is manifest horseshit. He knew. And that he lied to Maron about it proves that. https://t.co/60IuMjDBNZ

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 13, 2017

If the issue was that Louis CK was just oopsy-doopsy mixed-up about whether it's okay to start masturbating in front of people, he wouldn't have felt obliged to deny it to his friend. (And implicitly call his victims liars.)

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 13, 2017

And not just rapists, but sexual predators of all sorts: People who commit sexual harassment; people who peep and creep; people who commit all types of sexual assault. They are profligate liars.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 13, 2017

Victims are admonished relentlessly to lie to ourselves about what really happened.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 13, 2017

It is accusers, victims, survivors, who sound like the liars, the fantasists, as we stammer and fume in the face of an entire culture primed to disbelieve us.

And sexual predators know that. They count on it.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 13, 2017

Of course Louis CK lied to his friend. Of course he did.

And we would be utter fools not to understand that he is lying to us now.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 13, 2017