| Advertisement |
Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Five women involved in the comedy and entertainment business have accused comedian Louis C.K. of being sexually inappropriate with them. The women told The New York Times about their experiences with the actor and director, whose new movie, I Love You, Daddy, is suffering blowback. Distribution company The Orchard canceled Thursday's premiere of the movie hours before the Times published its report.
Advertisement
Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov, a comedy duo, said C.K. undressed and masturbated in front of them in his hotel room after they performed at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colo. They said he asked for permission and they thought he was joking at first.
"And then he really did it."
They said they were later told by his manager, Dave Becky, not to tell other people what happened, and they felt like they were never able to work on any productions C.K. or Becky were involved with.
Comedian Abby Schachner said that in 2003, she heard C.K. masturbate while she spoke to him on the phone, and another comedian, Rebecca Corry, said he asked her if he could masturbate in front of her while they worked on a television pilot in 2005.
A fifth accuser, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Times that C.K. repeatedly asked her to watch him masturbate while they worked on The Chris Rock Show in the late 1990s. She said she agreed to, but knew it was wrong.
"I think the big piece of why I said yes was because of the culture," she said. "He abused his power."
The accusations come amid an increase in sexual assault and misconduct allegations against multiple powerful men in the entertainment business. Harvey Weinstein has been ousted from his production company and a number of Hollywood associations and actor Kevin Spacey is being entirely cut out of his newest movie, All the Money in the World, and the upcoming and final season of House of Cards.
C.K.'s new black-and-white movie is about a TV writer-producer whose 17-year-old daughter falls in love with a 68-year-old filmmaker. The gala celebrating it was to take place at New York's Paris Theatre. The film is set for theatrical release on Nov. 17.
"Due to unexpected circumstances, tonight's event for I Love You, Daddy has been canceled," the distribution company said in an email to Variety. "On behalf of The Orchard, please accept our apologies. We're incredibly sorry for any inconvenience."
C.K. -- who co-stars, wrote and directed the film -- has backed out of a planned appearance on CBS' Late Show with Stephen Colbert, as well.
