Louis C.K. made his TV return in an interview with Bill Maher after admitting to sexual misconduct—and folks on social media are not impressed.
On Friday, October 3, the American Hustle star, 58, was a featured guest on Real Time With Bill Maher to promote his new novel, Ingram. It marked C.K.’s first TV interview since he admitted in 2017 to inappropriate behavior after four accusers told The New York Times that he masturbated in front of them (and a fifth person said he asked to do so).
“These stories are true,” he said in a statement after the bombshell report. “… The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly.” After C.K.’s admission, he continued performing stand-up comedy; he even won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 2022. Since then, he has kept a relatively low profile.
During C.K.’s Real Time sit-down, he and Maher, 69, spoke at length about Ingram, which will be released on November 11.
“Ingram is like me without a mom in Texas, I guess, sort of,” he said of the titular character, to which Maher said that he “must have done so much research,” considering the book takes place at an oil refinery.
C.K. then admitted, “I’ve never been on one. I have no idea. I’ve never read about one or watched a movie about one. I just imagined how they must do it and I made it up.”
Maher spoke about Ingram’s journey, explaining that the character seems to take “three steps forward, two steps back” in the book. “And he keeps trying to connect with people, and they always seem to abandon him.”
The late-night host detailed, “He finally does make one friend, this character Bart, and then they’re roommates, I guess, at this oil refinery. It’s a tough life. And they were in the same, small room. He kind of loses his friend because one night, Ingram discovers masturbation and kind of pays a high price for that.”
Maher then quipped, “Where do you get your ideas?”
After the audience and C.K. erupted into laughter at the jab, he replied, “Well, like you said, ‘Write what you know.’”
In the comments of a clip of the interaction posted via Instagram, many Maher fans criticized the show for not only the light-hearted approach to a serious topic but also having C.K. as a guest at all.
One Instagram user wondered, “What has happened to this show?”
Another viewer declared, “NEW RULES: white male comedian goes soft on his peer accused of SA of women only to end his show with take on WOMEN not using their voices and playing victims. Bill’s misogynistic ‘views’ are just mak[ing] him sound like yet another whiney white man on his platform.”
Someone else wrote, “Dude come on don’t platform Louie CK. He’s so washed up it’s ridiculous.”
A different fan echoed, “Both of these guys have whined about cancel culture and political correctness, yet here they are discussing Louis putting out some piece of trash novel.”
Meanwhile, yet another fan commented, “Did u interview the female comedians he sexually assaulted? Where’s the joint convo there @realtimers.”
Real Time With Bill Maher, Fridays, 10/9c, HBO