Celeb (and Celeb SO's) Sexual Harassment Thread

[D_Davis]

and 1 celebrity death doesn't mean that 5 more celebrities will suddenly turn up dead the next day.

Uhm...celebrities die in threes, dude.

[Irish]

Uhm...celebrities die in threes, dude.

You should talk to Spinal about that. He has a hardcore interest in numerology and the occult.

[Dukefrukem]

Thanks to whoever merged threads. Mine was ill-conceived.

Don't thank me yet. Got a lot of posts to move over here.

Was trying to do it at work but kept getting distracted.

[[ETM]]

How did I wake up to an article title that just says "Louis CK is done"?

[Morris Schæffer]

Magnum PI's Higgins, actor John Hillerman. 84.

[Irish]

Magnum PI's Higgins, actor John Hillerman. 84.

Morris.

[Morris Schæffer]

Morris.

Yes?

[Irish]

Yes?

Morris. Look at your post and then look at the thread title.

[number8]

How did I wake up to an article title that just says "Louis CK is done"?

The response has been as fast as Spacey's. He got kicked out of Jon Stewart's upcoming autism telethon, HBO has taken all Louis CK stuff off of Go/Now, FX is "reviewing" their contracts with him, and his new movie may be getting shelved by the distributor.

[Lazlo]

With all that's going on how does Woody Allen still have a movie coming out a month from now?

[Spinal]

With all that's going on how does Woody Allen still have a movie coming out a month from now?

In his book, So You've Been Publicly Shamed, Jon Ronson speculates that public outrage is not just about the actions, but about the actions in comparison to our previous perception of the individual. Allen's behavior has been a part of him so long that it is already tied up with who we understand him to be. He has, on some level been accepted on those terms, at least by the people that keep him in business. Despite his provocative jokes, Louis has been known to the public as a loving father to two young girls. This is why Trump can keep afloat with disaster after disaster that would sink any other politician.

[number8]

I wouldn't say despite his provocative jokes. I would say because of. Louis does a lot of self-deprecating "men are awful, I am a man so I am a disgusting sexual monster" jokes that we as a society have been trained to go, oh he's not afraid of openly talking and making fun of this stuff so there has to be a distance between the real him and his comic persona.

Matt Zoller Seitz touched on that in the article ETM mentioned:

The allegations against C.K. also constitute a form of betrayal, against an audience that trusts artists to make edgy, even unlikable work, and gives them the benefit of the doubt when they wade into the deepest, darkest parts of their imagination.

A well-crafted, intelligent story about the impact of rape, domestic violence, pederasty, and so forth is already tough to watch. It becomes a horrendous experience once you add the possibility that the writer or director actually did what they’re depicting, and might be getting off on making the audience squirm by representing it while not fessing up to their relationship with it. It’s a power move, rooted in the thrill of subterfuge and shock: an artist’s version of indecent exposure.

C.K. did this in season four of Louie, when he built an episode around the main character forcing himself on his best friend (played by Pamela Adlon, the show’s co-producer and frequent co-writer). I supported these episodes because, as far as I knew at the time, they were a storytelling gambit that juxtaposed the self-aware, self-questioning public entertainer “Louie,” who was seemingly close to Louis C.K. the comedian (represented in a stand-up sequence in that very same show), against the private version of the character, a sexual-ethics train wreck who put his urges and sense of entitlement ahead of consent. This story struck me at the time as a brave, if potentially foolhardy, attempt to complicate the audience’s reaction to the character, and caution us that artists might not be as good as the public face they show us.

But the conclusion of that story — a happy ending that found Pamela forgiving Louie and entering into a romantic relationship with him — was gross, and in retrospect, it seems a harbinger of allegations that came to light today.

[D_Davis]

The response has been as fast as Spacey's. He got kicked out of Jon Stewart's upcoming autism telethon, HBO has taken all Louis CK stuff off of Go/Now, FX is "reviewing" their contracts with him, and his new movie may be getting shelved by the distributor.

But Trump is still president.

It's so sad that we hold our entertainers to higher standards than the POTUS.

[Dead & Messed Up]

But Trump is still president.

It's so sad that we hold our entertainers to higher standards than the POTUS.

Power's a factor, but I also swear to God, with Trump, it's the fact that he always hit back twice as hard and leaned in. You say I'm a sexual harasser? I'm gonna bring Bill Clinton's accusers to the second debate. I'm gonna say Hillary Clinton's enabling was worse. There was no shame or token effort to apologize, excepting that one truly awkward "locker room talk" video where it looked like one of the Koch Brothers was holding a gun to his temple just offscreen.

The weirdest thing post-Trump has been coming to terms with the loss of shame as a useful social tool.

[number8]

Here is Louis CK's statement.

[Dukefrukem]

Talk about a perfect response? There it is.

[D_Davis]

That's a good statement.

[D_Davis]

Power's a factor, but I also swear to God, with Trump, it's the fact that he always hit back twice as hard and leaned in. You say I'm a sexual harasser? I'm gonna bring Bill Clinton's accusers to the second debate. I'm gonna say Hillary Clinton's enabling was worse. There was no shame or token effort to apologize, excepting that one truly awkward "locker room talk" video where it looked like one of the Koch Brothers was holding a gun to his temple just offscreen.

The weirdest thing post-Trump has been coming to terms with the loss of shame as a useful social tool.

And now we have the GOP bending over backwards to defend Roy Moore, with some comparing his persecution to that of Jesus. I swear.

[megladon8]

Good on him for taking responsibility and (seemingly) showing genuine remorse.

[megladon8]

Actually CK’s statement has reminded me of a question that’s been stirring in my mind for a good week or two regarding all this stuff...

Is there any way for any of these people to come back from this?

Can any of these men possibly make some sort of amends for their actions, and possibly, maybe have some kind of career again in the future?

I would say CK has the best chance at this point because he’s the only one so far to straight up admit guilt, rather than get caught in lies. And, again, his statement reads as being genuinely remorseful.

[number8]

Almost a month later and this is still one of my favorite NY Times headlines I've read. I keep coming back to it. I wish I had gotten the print version. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/o...-witchunt.html

[number8]

Reminder that Louis CK said this just last year when asked about Gawker's reporting of this same situation:

I don’t care about that. That’s nothing to me. That’s not real.

So I'm not as eager to applaud him. He's mainly sorry that now the NY Times is involved he's facing actual consequences. His own team said they've been prepping for this day since the Weinstein story broke.

[Spinal]

Actually CK’s statement has reminded me of a question that’s been stirring in my mind for a good week or two regarding all this stuff...

Is there any way for any of these people to come back from this?

Can any of these men possibly make some sort of amends for their actions, and possibly, maybe have some kind of career again in the future?

I would say CK has the best chance at this point because he’s the only one so far to straight up admit guilt, rather than get caught in lies. And, again, his statement reads as being genuinely remorseful.

Some acts are unacceptable and forgivable.

Some acts are unacceptable and unforgivable.

I think some of these stories fall into one category or the other. I don't want to say which is which, because I don't want to have to argue back and forth about it. But Weinstein is DEFINITELY done in civilized society.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Reminder that Louis CK said this just last year when asked about Gawker's reporting of this same situation:



So I'm not as eager to applaud him. He's mainly sorry that now the NY Times is involved he's facing actual consequences. His own team said they've been prepping for this day since the Weinstein story broke.

Same. He waited until there was no option left. This was a good statement, but it's been written, revised, calculated to within an inch of its life, waiting to be deployed at the crucial moment of no return. He's always been good at "coming clean" about his problems. Self-effacement is part of his whole act. So of course this reads like a proper and sincere confession. He's been practicing it for years.

[Spinal]

Meanwhile, John Hillerman hasn't make ANY sort of statement. For shame, John.