Late last year, Louis C.K. became yet another powerful man in the
entertainment industry to have his sexually inappropriate behavior 
revealed and suddenly, his jokes about “constant 
perverted sexual thoughts” became all too real. 
A New York Times story forced the 50-year-old C.K. to confess to 
longstanding rumors that he had brought female comics 
back to his hotel room and masturbated in front of them. 
The king of stand-up has been banished from the comedy scene since the 
scandal broke with Louis Faranda — the executive talent producer for 
Carolines on Broadway — saying, “Everybody 
dropped him, which was the right thing to do.”
Despite this, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s Stuart Miller, 
there seems to be no question about if C.K. will return but rather when, 
where and how he will. The consensus is that while his behavior was 
clearly wrong it was not at the level of a Harvey Weinstein, James Toback 
or Bill Cosby. Comics and club owners alike agree with Gilbert Gottfried's 
opinion that “there are different levels of misbehavior”
 and the public understands the difference. 
“I don’t think people want this to be a life sentence,” says Comedy Cellar 
owner Noam Dworman. Faranda goes so far as to predict that while 
“some might keep away,” C.K. will return within a year, “making fun of his mistakes.”
Perhaps surprisingly, both Faranda and Dworman say they’d hand 
C.K. their microphones tomorrow as they expect he would address the issue at hand. 
Eileen Koch, founder of the branding and public relations firm 
Eileen Koch & Company, who represents Floyd Mayweather Jr., Jamie Foxx
and Carmen Electra, says C.K. doesn't even need to wait that long 
if he gives a sincere apology. But she adds that if he is just saying sorry
to get his career back, people will see through that. She believes he should go 
on a serious program like ’60 Minutes' as 
opposed to addressing it in a comedic environment.
However, C.K.'s fellow comics disagree. For example, Christopher Titus 
thinks C.K. should avoid the mea culpa interviews.
“He needs to work on his best comedy about how he was a douche 
and how he is trying to make amends to women,” Titus says. 
But the comic warns that C.K.’s redemption can’t seem too easy. 
“If that had been a homeless guy in a raincoat doing it to your wife, 
you’d want him in jail,” he says. “Just because he had fame and made people 
laugh, I don’t think he should get a hall pass. He has to earn it.”
Aida Rodriguez, whose comedy is fierce on female empowerment, 
raises an interesting  point when she says,
“C.K.'s audience was not only huge but was filled with young men. 
He has the chance to atone and to educate. 
If he uses the opportunity to address his shortcomings, maybe he can 
change a few minds among his fans and maybe he can 
save a couple of girls from unnecessary and unwanted incidents.”
To read more on this story, head to THR.com. 
For The Hollywood Reporter News, I’m Lyndsey Rodrigues.
