Joe Rogan reveals there is “much more” to Louis CK story

Louis CK performed to a sold out audience this month at a venue in Richmond, Virginia from April 2nd-4th. Cell phones were banned from the club.

It sounds like an underground, super secret event for good reason. Hosting Louis CK is now considered a controversial act. As a previous booking agent Mike Clarke said on a Joe Rogan podcast “[Louis] wasn’t arrested or convicted of anything” but yet the backlash for letting Louis CK perform caused a problem.

Rogan asked what the backlash was, because the audience at CK’s last (covertly recorded) performance audibly gave him a standing ovation. The Twitterverse was not so receptive. Clarke said the word put out was that “Mike locked the door and put a sexual predator on stage.”

The narrative about who Louis CK really is as a person versus what he’s accused of has never been arbitrated. That Louis was never arrested also means that he was never allowed to tell his side of the story. And who would try to tell a rational story to defend CK in the midst of the MeToo movement? As comedian Lenny Clarke said on the podcast: “You could’ve jerked off in front of me as long as you don’t ruin my shirt. My shirt is pretty expensive!”

If you don’t think that’s funny then you shouldn’t go out to comedy clubs.

The reality is that comedians aren’t here to make us feel comfortable, they are here to make us laugh and think--two things people are not doing enough of these days. And the people booking comedians have the same goal in mind. But, we should ask, why do we need Louis CK?

Joe Rogan said there is a lot more to Louis CK’s story than people know about and the people who “turned on him” are people Louis helped to get jobs. Rogan said he’d had a conversation with CK and “one day I think he’s going to tell us ... it’s not as cut and dry as everyone thinks.”

The accusations against him present Louis CK as if he had all the power in the room and simply asked the women to hold his beer while he whipped his dick out. Rogan says it’s not that simple. “There was a lot of sex talk. There was a lot of flirting…there was a lot going on.”

Well, yes, there is usually a lot going on before a person masturbates in front of someone else. No rational person would think otherwise. That it was over a decade since Louis CK was accused of doing anything like that didn’t seem to play a factor in the accusations against him.

There is no statute of limitations on making someone pay for a thing they did ten years ago. But why are people so thirsty for Louis CK’s blood so oblivious to their own flaws?

Rogan comments that “there are women who are taking advantage of this [MeToo] movement!” He mentions Asia Argento as “a big one.” And that’s true. Why is no one asking about Argento anymore? Who is tracking her latest movements since Argento was accused of having sex with the young man who once played her son in a film? Is there an Asia Argento creep watch going on to ensure she never makes another movie? And what about Argento’s cohort Rose McGowan? Who is watching her?

As Joe Rogan says, a lot of people screaming for attention have dark secrets themselves.

Life is more complicated than simply picking a villain based on what Twitter says we should all think. We all know it’s more complicated than that. One of the things that has helped us survive our own ridiculous humanity is the ability to laugh at ourselves and now we are being told we can’t even do that anymore.

Preying on vulnerable people is not something we should laugh at. Louis CK was accused of being a predator but, as Joe Rogan said, there is a lot more to this story. Every man who is accused, and by accusation condemned, needs the chance to tell their side of the story too and part of that story is a reminder that power isn’t so simple.

What power does Louis CK have that the women, who also use words as their art form, do not possess themselves? Are women so artless that they cannot compete with Louis on the stage without agreeing to watch him masturbate first? I have trouble understanding the argument against Louis CK unless I accept that women are somehow inferior to him - and that is not something I accept.

If an accused man isn’t allowed to tell his side of the story we have to ask who really holds the power.

In the world of comedy, I think other people will agree that you can’t dictate by virtue of Twitter who we should laugh at. You’re either funny or you aren’t. I don’t actually care if Louis CK is a pervert, as long as he makes me laugh.