Louis C.K. is capping off his 2018 with yet another controversy.
The comedian, who was fired from all of his Hollywood jobs last year after admitting to allegations of sexual misconduct, returned to stand-up comedy in August, and leaked audio from one of his recent sets has sparked outrage.
In it, C.K. performs a bit about people in their 20s, who he argues should be doing crazy things at their age but instead do nothing but say "you shouldn't say that" and "that's not appropriate." He adds that young people are "like royalty" because they "tell you what to call them." In a mocking voice, C.K. says, "You should address me as they/them because I identify as gender-neutral." C.K. dismissively reacts to this impression of a non-binary person with "Oh, okay" before sarcastically declaring he wants to be addressed as "there" because "I identify as a location."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The comedian goes on to make fun of survivors of school shootings who testify before Congress, saying, "You're not interesting because you went to a high school where kids got shot. Why does that mean I have to listen to you? How does that make you interesting? You didn't get shot. You pushed some fat kid in the way and now I have to listen to you talking?" This transitions into a joke about how when kids die in school shootings, it's "no worse than anybody else dying."
This is just one small clip from a nearly hour-long set full of plenty more controversial material, and C.K. at one point makes clear that he has no problem inciting outrage because he feels he has nothing more to lose. "What are you going to take away, my birthday?" he asks. "My life is over. I don't give a s--t. You can be offended. It's okay."
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
France makes first arrests in Louvre jewels heistSpeed Read Two suspects were arrested in connection with the daytime theft of royal jewels from the museum
-
Trump pardons crypto titan who enriched familySpeed Read Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from LouvreSpeed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 yearsSpeed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
-
Man charged over LA’s deadly Palisades Firespeed read 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested in connection with the fire that killed 12 people
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
