Netflix scraps Louis CK stand-up special
David Farnor | On 11, Nov 2017
Netflix has cancelled its planned stand-up special with Louis CK, after a group of women accused Louis CK of sexual misconduct this week.
Five women spoke to the New York Times about separate incidents involving the comedian over a period of several years. The allegations were made public on Thursday, although rumours of his behaviour date back several years, with Gawker covering them in 2012. With women going on the record, CK admitted they were true in a lengthy statement on Friday.
At the same time, his publicist, Lewis Kay, tweeted that he no longer represented the comedian, while the distributor of his upcoming film, I Love You, Daddy, cancelled the movie’s release.
Netflix, who inked a deal with the comedian earlier this year to record two stand-up specials for the streaming service, has already released one of those, titled 2017. Now, the VOD giant has confirmed that it will not be making a second with him.
Based on Louis CK's behavior, we are not making his second stand up special.
— Netflix US (@netflix) November 10, 2017
This is not the first scandal involving sexual harassment or abuse to involve Netflix: a string of accusations were made against Kevin Spacey last week, leading the streaming giant to suspend House of Cards indefinitely and refuse to make any more episodes of the programme with Spacey’s involvement. Talks about a spin-off series are currently underway.