When the Louis C.K. scandal broke, I immediately thought, Tell me it's not true!
But right now, I’m thinking more like this:
Louis, please tell me that you're going to learn and grow from this experience.
The fact is, Louis C.K. is one of the most talented comedians that have ever graced this planet.
His stand-up act is absolutely brilliant, and what makes him brilliant is the way that he will poke fun at himself.
So, I'm looking forward to seeing how he evolves from this journey he’s on. I really want to see how he comes through, what happens to him as a man, and what happens to his comedy moving forward.
I'm not here to shame him.
We've all got our issues.
He's man enough to admit that he's done all the things that he's accused of, and that alone is really the first step to recovery.
In order to recover from damaging behavior, you have to admit the damaging behavior to as many people as possible. You need to own the damaging behaviors.
Those of you who know or read me know that I’m not a drinker - and therefore not an alcoholic - but one of the things I’ve always respected and admired about recovering alcoholics is how they are able to publicly admit their issues. They own up to their drug use, their alcohol use, and sit there and go through a 12-step process to heal and get healthy again.
Well, right now Louis C.K. is on the road to recovery, and I think we need to have compassion and empathy for a man that has actually given us some of the most rewarding laughs we've had in a long time.
Did he do things that were wrong? Absolutely.
Did he harm anybody? Well, maybe psychologically, maybe some people felt harmed by the lewd actions he took in front of them. But he physically did not really harm anybody. Emotional scars, we call can get over.
We've all experienced them throughout life, and we've all had many emotional scars that we've had to literally work through in our lives.
But now is the time when a man is actually stepping forward, admitting his actions, and looking for help.
This isn't the time to chastise him.
Ive heard that his recent movie was actually very well-written, and it would've been up for an Academy Award. Yet, it was shelved, and the premier never went through.
Is this really an action that we need to take? The man has admitted what he's done.
Again, I am not justifying the things he’s done, and I’m certainly not saying he did nothing wrong. Yet, he's now in the process of admitting and owning all of his actions.
Now more than ever is the time when he actually needs the support from not only his loved ones, but the same public who have applauded him for all of his amazing work, his comedy, and all of the other things he's entertained us with.
Now's the time that he needs the help.
We don't abandon people when they admit what they've done is wrong. We need to embrace them and you give them the help that they need.
If I was able to sit down with him, I would talk at length about what he's done, and how he wants to heal moving forward.
I’d coach him through whatever that process is, and whatever he needs to do as a man.
So, when we sit here and we read about all the things people have done, let's not judge them. Let's not judge the Kevin Spaceys, the Louis C.K.s, or the Harvey Weinsteins.
Let's be more empathetic, because when a man or a woman admits something, it's the first step in healing their lives.
So, let's be more empathetic. Let's actually support them during their times of need, and not only during the times of pure entertainment and joy.
It's a different perspective that we all need to take, because one day this will all be forgotten. Louis C.K. will be back up on stage. He'll be making fun of his lewd actions, and people will be laughing again. His movies will come out and people will watch them.
We've done it with Woody Allen, we've done it with Pee-Wee Herman, and we've done it with many others.
We have a short-term memory in this country. So when someone comes clean, let's not hang them by the rope. Let's embrace their journey and offer a helping hand.
Because the more hands to help them, the better they're going to be and the more powerful lessons will come from it.