Louis CK addresses allegations on stage: "I lost $35 million in an hour"

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Louis CK controversially made his return to stand-up comedy over the summer, less than one year after admitting to several allegations of sexual misconduct. Despite backlash, he has continued to perform, though he reportedly had yet to address the elephant in the room during any of his sets. People have suggested that, if he’s going to attempt a comeback, he should be talking about it, and at his set this past Wednesday (10/10) at NYC’s West Side Comedy Club, he spoke about what’s been on everyone’s minds on stage for the first time, according to LaughSpin:

A source present at the Sunday night Caroline’s showcase and the Wednesday night show at West Side claims there was a stark difference between the two sets. The Caroline’s set was like his previously reported drop-ins, acting like it’s business as usual. On Sunday night “he looked frightened before he went on,” according to the source. He didn’t get huge applause, but he did just okay. “I couldn’t listen to the words because I’m like, ‘Come on bro, really? You’re not going to talk about it?’ It was insane.”

Something shifted Wednesday night. “He was much more confident,” says the source. [AMarie] Castillo [who hosted the show] says he opened with, “It’s been a weird year” (understatement). He continued talking about how he’s been to “Hell and back”—joking that while he was in Hell he met Hitler. Multiple comedians hanging out that night say he seemed more authentic and real. From the source, his Wednesday set addressed getting booed in the streets and how everyone hates him. “I lost $35 million in an hour.” This audience apparently loved it way more than the unrealistically guarded set just a few days prior—though the comics hanging out were laughing harder than the audience, says the source.

Castillo also told LaughSpin, “It’s like he didn’t even skip a beat with the year he had. He was so genuine and reflected on how weird his year was, tried out some new dark and dirty material…Sounds to me he is owning up, acknowledging, and trying to figure it out.”

The article, which also points out there was another show at Comedy Cellar (where people are now free to walk out without paying), says that Louis is “finally talking about the sexual misconduct,” though going by the quotes provided, it’s not super clear if he was expressing remorse for his actions or focusing on his own fallout. To quote a recent NY Post op-ed by Sara Stewart titled “This is how Louis CK should make his comeback,” “Admit you used your male privilege for bad — really bad — and why, in painful detail, it sucks to have done what you did. Admit that it’s what’s still happening to women all over the country, all over the world. Admit it TO THOSE WOMEN YOU HURT IN PARTICULAR, in public.”