Hannah Gadsby Slams Louis C.K. as an Angry and Bitter Joke Who Still ‘Thinks He’s the Victim’
Hannah Gadsby, the comedian who became an international sensation last year with her Netflix special “Nanette,” ripped Louis C.K. in her recent interview with the Los Angeles Times. C.K. admitted to sexual misconduct in November 2017, which included masturbating in front of female comics. After a prolonged hiatus, C.K. made his return to stand-up comedy at the end of 2018. C.K.’s sets have made headlines for including controversial jokes about transgender people, the Parkland shooting survivors, and masturbation.
“He is a joke now,” Gadsby said of C.K. “And I think it’s important to keep making that joke. He has not reassessed his position of power, and that is why he was able to abuse it. It’s difficult to see a shift in your own power and privilege. It’s not something we’re trained to do. He still honestly thinks he’s the victim in all of this.”
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The Australian comedian reminded the interviewer that C.K. promised in 2017 to “step back and take a long time to listen,” but she says that C.K. has refused to listen and has become “just angry and bitter.”
“Why are we trusting a man who has a compulsion like that where it diminishes the humanity of people around him?” Gadsby said. “Why do we care what he thinks about the human condition? He needs to worry about his own condition a bit. Just sit quietly.”
Gadsby said C.K.’s controversial performances are done “from a position of defensiveness,” which is a huge problem for someone who admitted to sexual misconduct. While Gadsby is not a fan of C.K.’s return, she mentioned that he has every right to perform.
“Censorship is useless because it leaves a gap where we learned a lesson,” Gadsby said. “Let’s say Picasso. I’m not a fan. But I am a fan. I’m not a fan of the gap that was left in his story, that he was a toxic, hostile individual and that his behavior was enabled by the community around him. But if you were to wipe him from our collective memory, we not only lose what he did well, we lose what he did badly. And we can learn from both.”
Gadsby’s acclaimed “Nanette” is now available to stream on Netflix. The comedian is touring the country this year with a new show, “Douglas,” which Netflix will also be turning into a comedy special later this year. Read Gadsby’s full interview with the Los Angeles Times here.
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