While he wasn’t the first, and he certainly won’t be the last, Louis C.K.’s cancellation and subsequent career renaissance is one of the more instructive examples of how celebrities can return to the mainstream after scandal. In short, the lesson seems to be to refuse to go away, only shruggingly acknowledge what happened, and just generally proceed as normal, which is precisely what Louis does in Ridiculous, his first release on a major media platform — Netflix, in this case — in nearly a decade.
Post-cancellation career revival is all the rage these days. The bubble seems to have burst on public figures being legitimately blackballed from an industry. Society is now so aggressively partisan that if anyone is held to account for anything, a legion of defenders will emerge to imply that whatever they did is no big deal. Of course, this is not to downplay what Louis C.K. did in the first place, what he had to do to remain wealthy and relevant in the aftermath of its exposure, or anything else people in the comments are probably lining up to mention. It’s just to acknowledge the reality we’re living in.
The Downfall (2017)
In 2017, The New York Times published a report containing verified allegations that Louis C.K. had masturbated in front of multiple female comedians without their consent. He released a statement admitting the reporting was accurate, and the industry blowback was immediate and wide-ranging.
Ironically, given recent developments, Netflix was first out of the gate to cancel his upcoming special. FX followed by terminating their deal, leading to the cancellation of his well-liked sitcom, Louie. Universal Pictures and Illumination dropped him from The Secret Life of Pets 2, and I Love You, Daddy, his self-funded movie, which was days ahead of its release, was pulled from distribution.
In an instant, Louis C.K. was ruined, the doors to mainstream entertainment seemingly barred to him forevermore.
A Cautious Comeback (2018-2019)
After spending around nine months out of the spotlight, Louis began making unannounced appearances at New York City’s Comedy Cellar. The point, presumably, was to get a gauge on public appetite for more of his comedy, and initial reactions were mixed both among the public — there were minor local protests — and his comedy peers. But people were willing to buy tickets to see him perform. Absent any other considerations, the appetite remained.
Louis parlayed this appetite into a small-scale international tour, albeit one based around locations that weren’t as righteously indignant about the cultural policing that had occurred — and was continuing to occur — in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement. Many felt that the legitimate instances of abuse and exploitation uncovered by that awareness campaign had led to a massive overcorrection, and that Louis’s circumstances, even though he admitted to doing what he was accused of, were an example of a performative need to blacklist anyone who fell out of line.
The Independent Push (2020-2023)
Despite legitimate reputational damage and many mainstream opportunities having dried up, Louis was luckier than most. He had been incredibly successful for a very long time, which had allowed him to cultivate a not-insignificant fortune and a gigantic digital mailing list. Like other comedians such as Andrew Schulz and Shane Gillis would also do, Louis went direct-to-consumer, leveraging the advantages that he had to self-fund and distribute his own content, beginning with Sincerely, Louis C.K., a special released on his own website for $7 that addressed the scandal directly (and, many would say, unsatisfactorily).
That was in 2020. In December 2021, Louis released Sorry, his second self-funded special, filmed at New York’s Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. In 2022, he co-wrote, directed, and independently distributed the comedy-drama Fourth of July, and in 2023, he followed up with Louis C.K. at the Dolby. A month later, Louis C.K.: Back to the Garden, filmed at Madison Square Garden, proved that even independently, Louis could sell out the biggest of big venues.
When you have that kind of pulling power, you’re back. And here we are.
A Shrugging Return
Ridiculous marks Louis C.K.’s first mainstream special in nearly a decade. Despite being the first major platform to drop him in 2017, it was Netflix that bankrolled his renaissance, having him headline the Netflix Is A Joke Festival at the Hollywood Bowl, and then acquiring his latest special. Filmed at the Beacon Theatre in New York, the shrugging tone of the special was noted by some critics, but to be fair, we rather liked it.
Either way, the trajectory of Louis’s rebuild might prove that cancel culture is effectively dead, raising some awkward questions about whether the accused ultimately end up better off than their accusers. What that says about us culturally is probably for someone else to unpack.
