Do we like Louis C.K.?
Our score: 2 out of 10. He admitted five women's accounts of sexual misconduct were true, and some real charity work doesn't come close to balancing that.
Louis C.K. built his name on Louie, the FX show that took in the Comedy Cellar and made him one of the most admired stand-ups going. In November 2017 that ended fast. The Orchard cancelled his film, FX ended its production deal, and Netflix dropped a planned special. I couldn't open a full biography page, so the early-years story is thin here.
The trigger was a New York Times report in which five women accused him of sexual misconduct. Two said he masturbated in front of them after inviting them to a hotel room, and others described similar requests while working with him. He had called the claims rumours in September, then reversed himself the next day. He said he was “remorseful” and that “There is nothing about this that I forgive myself for.” The accounts are on the record, and he admitted they were true.
The comeback was quick. By August 2018 he had walked unannounced onto the Comedy Cellar stage and got an ovation, nine months after the scandal. Four months later a leaked set, reported by CBS, appeared to mock Parkland shooting survivors and make fun of gender identity and non-binary people. CBS said he didn't respond to its request for comment.
On the harm test, that leaked set is the sharpest mark. It was a comedy set, not a campaign, and we found no record of him pushing anti-trans policy, conspiracy theories or anything like it. In October 2025 he defended playing the Riyadh Comedy Festival on Real Time with Bill Maher, calling it a “positive thing”. David Cross asked how any of the comedians involved could be taken seriously again. Where you land depends on whether you see that gig as a way into a closed country or as a payday for a government with a heavy censorship record.
Now he's back on the biggest platform going. TheWrap's review of Ridiculous says the hour, filmed at the Beacon Theater, is about ageing, sleep and putting his father in a care home. It says there's no mention of the scandal, which is a choice. He also won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album in 2022, his first since the accusations, for a special that was his first since the allegations.
There is real good on his ledger. After selling a $5 online special in 2011 he gave $280,000 to five charities, including the Fistula Foundation and charity: water, and paid staff bonuses of $250,000. That's a generous move, and it's worth saying plainly. It's also from over a decade before the scandal.