Sarah Silverman says Louis C.K. masturbated in front of her, with consent
Sarah Silverman says her friend, the disgraced comedian Louis C.K., masturbated in front of her several times, but with her consent. Silverman says that she does not want to make any excuses for C.K., but believes that her experience might contextualize his behavior to some extent. Several women accused C.K. of masturbating in front of them without their consent.
Silverman appeared on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show on Monday and emphasized that she was "not making excuses for him." She also said she was not comparing herself to the women who said C.K. abused his power with such behavior.
Silverman said of C.K., "We are peers. We are equals. When we were kids, and he asked if he could masturbate in front of me, sometimes I'd go, 'F**k yeah I want to see that!' … It's not analogous to the other women that are talking about what he did to them. He could offer me nothing. We were only just friends. So sometimes, yeah, I wanted to see it, it was amazing. Sometimes I would say, 'F**king no, gross,' and we got pizza."
She said she believes that perhaps C.K. did not understand his own power as he became more successful.
"I'm not saying what he did was OK. I'm just saying at a certain point, when he became influential, not even famous, but influential in the world of comedy, it changes," she said. "He felt like he was the same person, but the dynamic was different and it was not OK." She added, "I'm not saying everyone should embrace Louis again... I just want him to talk about it on stage. He's going to have to find his way or not find his way."
Silverman's own sister, Laura Silverman, was one of the women who said that C.K. masturbated in front of her.
C.K. has been quietly making a comeback, with several appearances at comedy clubs around New York City.