Showtime scraps plans for Louis C.K. documentary amid comic's divisive comeback

Alexandra Del Rosario
·2 min read
Louis C.K.in a black suit jacket, white suit shirt sitting and holding his left hand out infant of him
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Louis C.K., in the years following his sexual-misconduct scandal, has been trying to re-enter the entertainment scene. He's released comedy specials, a self-directed film and launched a tour.

However, it seems the disgraced comic won't be getting any shine from Showtime — not even as the subject of a documentary about his downfall.

The premium network decided to drop the documentary a year after ex-Paramount boss David Nevins announced the project in August 2022, The Times confirmed Tuesday.

C.K. could not be reached for comment.

Variety reported in 2022 that the documentary was set to examine "the Louis C.K. story and the conversation around #MeToo five years on." At the height of the #MeToo movement in 2017, the "Louie" star was accused of sexual misconduct by five women.

Top networks and streaming platforms including "Louie" home FX, HBO and Netflix severed ties with the comic following the allegations. In November 2017, he said the allegations were true, admitting to masturbating in front of female comedians.

"I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want," he said then in a statement. "I will now step back and take a long time to listen.”

"Blackpink: Light Up the Sky" filmmaker Caroline Suh was set to direct the since-dropped Showtime documentary. The project was also supposed to feature the New York Times reporters who broke the news of C.K.'s misconduct.

While announcing the project at the 2022 Edinburgh TV Festival, Nevins said C.K. was "a great, great comedian who has come back in his own way."

“I don’t think the social change that #MeToo has brought about is resolved at all,” Nevins said. “There’s a bit of backlash against #MeToo, who has to go away and who’s allowed to come back.”

C.K. began touring again in 2019. In the following years he released several comedy specials, including 2020's "Sincerely Louis C.K." At the 2022 Grammy Awards, C.K. won for the "Sincerely" album.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.