Louis CK Wins a Grammy: The Wanker is Back

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PGage

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Apr 4, 2022, 10:10:49 AM4/4/22
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[I think I’m using that British term correctly]


I’m not sure about this: I’m not sure that winning a comedy album Grammy is the marker of being back. He is selling out dates on his Euro-tour, but that is not quite the same as being back to where he was 5 years ago, which was close to the very top of his field.


I wouldn’t buy a ticket to see him, especially since he is apparently using his show to make light of what he did. But I’m not sure what he did deserves a lifetime ban or the full Harvey Weinstein.



“Louis C.K. brought home a Grammy on Sunday despite having admitted to sexual misconduct and subsequently enduring almost five years in professional comedy purgatory.


C.K.'s album, Sincerely Louis C.K., beat out five other nominees — including Lewis Black, Kevin Hart and Chelsea Handler — for best comedy album at the 64th Grammy Awards. The comeback album was his first release since the 54-year-old was accused of masturbating in front of multiple female colleagues in November 2017….”


https://www.npr.org/2022/04/04/1090743278/louis-c-k-crawls-out-of-cancellation-wins-a-grammy-and-triggers-a-backlash

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Kevin M.

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Apr 4, 2022, 10:25:45 AM4/4/22
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Sigh. 

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Adam Bowie

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Apr 4, 2022, 10:36:44 AM4/4/22
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On Mon, Apr 4, 2022 at 3:10 PM PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote:

[I think I’m using that British term correctly]



Very much so...

David Bruggeman

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Apr 4, 2022, 10:43:25 AM4/4/22
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I have difficulty seeing Louis as cancelled if he's still booking gigs as a standup.  I recognize that some would consider any loss of professional standing as cancellation.  I'm not in that group.

David

Adam Bowie

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Apr 4, 2022, 10:46:12 AM4/4/22
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On Mon, Apr 4, 2022 at 3:10 PM PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote:

He is selling out dates on his Euro-tour, but that is not quite the same as being back to where he was 5 years ago, which was close to the very top of his field.


I wouldn’t buy a ticket to see him, especially since he is apparently using his show to make light of what he did. But I’m not sure what he did deserves a lifetime ban or the full Harvey Weinstein.



I notice that his European tour doesn't seem to include any dates in the UK or Ireland which have traditionally always been big stop-offs for US comics who are touring. There is a sizeable comedy scene, and while I wouldn't expect a tour on the scale of a locally popular comedian, you would at least expect a date or two in some big London venues. He definitely used to stop off here. My suspicion is that he's still considered pretty toxic in the English-speaking world, and would struggle to sell-out the size venues he would expect to command. But I could be proved wrong...

 

PGage

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Apr 4, 2022, 12:17:11 PM4/4/22
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Well, I guess I am arguing for more of a continuum between fully “cancelled” and fully back. LCK does not yet seem fully back, and I’m not convinced he deserves permanent full cancellation, though I am open to being persuaded otherwise.

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PGage

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Apr 6, 2022, 8:14:11 AM4/6/22
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I think Alyssa Rosenberg at the WaPo has it about right (extended fair use excerpts below): 

“It’s natural to feel a flare of disgust when a disgraced man is given a shot at a professional comeback — and there’s no doubt that was the reaction of many viewers when Louis C.K. won best comedy album at the Grammys this past weekend.
But C.K.’s triumph is no outrage. It might even be a sign of a healthy new normal…

Deciding which offenders deserve career rehabilitation and under which circumstances will always be fraught. But in C.K.’s case, the entertainment industry seems to have gotten it right…

The results aren’t always going to be satisfactory. But acknowledging a performer’s enormous talents while limiting his ability to make full use of them seems a fair punishment. Louis C.K.’s Grammy isn’t a defeat for the #MeToo movement. It’s a sign that the reckoning, in this case, has stuck.“



Kevin M.

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Apr 6, 2022, 9:23:33 AM4/6/22
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That’s about the worst analysis I’ve seen yet. He won a Grammy for material that mocked his own behavior. CK didn’t rehabilitate himself or his career; his career merely shifted course. He’s an ass. The people who nominated and voted for him are the same ilk as those who gave Will Smith a standing ovation. It’s why all these award shows need to go away or at least go back to being private, industry events. It’s not even that we are seeing how the sausage is made; it is that we are seeing how amoral the sausage makers truly are, and the more we see that, the more people will go vegan. 

On Wed, Apr 6, 2022 at 5:14 AM PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote:
I think Alyssa Rosenberg at the WaPo has it about right (extended fair use excerpts below): 

“It’s natural to feel a flare of disgust when a disgraced man is given a shot at a professional comeback — and there’s no doubt that was the reaction of many viewers when Louis C.K. won best comedy album at the Grammys this past weekend.But C.K.’s triumph is no outrage. It might even be a sign of a healthy new normal…
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Kevin M.

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Apr 16, 2022, 11:35:57 PM4/16/22
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Rebecca Corry interview 

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Kevin M. (RPCV)
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