Sarah Silverman on "compassion" and the allegations against Louis C.K., Al Franken, Aziz Ansari
Comedian Sarah Silverman has opened up about the misconduct allegations against her friends, Louis C.K., Al Franken and Aziz Ansari. Silverman talked to GQ and said, "Life is complicated," revealing that she still talks to C.K. and thinks of him as a "brother."
In the new interview, she said, "I don't have some definitive sound bite or nutshell of how I feel about it, even to myself. But I'm also okay with that." Silverman's own sister, Laura Silverman, was one of the women who said that C.K. masturbated in front of her.
Sarah Silverman said that she does not necessarily think C.K. should stay out of work forever. The "I Love You, America" host said, "I think that there are people who were caught and there were people who were not caught, but the important thing is that they are forever changed. And if that's the case, I don't see any reason why they can't continue being artists. Now, whether they're popular artists or not is up to the audience. I have compassion."
Silverman also differentiated between people who own up to their mistakes and people who do not, saying, "There are people that just deny everything they're accused of and they continue to be the politicians or the filmmakers that they are. And there are people that come and say, 'I'm guilty of these things, and I'm wrong, and I want to be changed from this.' And yet those are the ones that kind of are excommunicated forever. He's my brother, so it's hard. I may not have a very clear perspective on it, but I'm trying to."
The comedian was even more defensive of former Sen. Al Franken, who resigned following several women's accusations and a photo of him grabbing at a broadcaster Leeann Tweeden's chest in what he said was a joking way. Silverman said, "He has no sexuality. I believe in my heart of heart of hearts he never copped a feel. The sketch, the whole Leeann Tweeden sketch, is online. You can see it for yourself. It's not funny, but it's innocuous." She continued, "I'm so sad that he got bullied into resigning, because all he loved in this world was being a senator and representing the people of Minnesota. I've never met a more pure person. On the show, you saw him kiss me on the lips. There is nothing sexual about it. He's a Jewish grandpa."
Silverman also revealed that she is still friends with Ansari, who was criticized over his conduct with a woman on a date. "Hopefully he's dealing with things, looking inward, and will blossom from it."
In December, on "CBS This Morning," Silverman also defended C.K. but acknowledged that he did "bad things." She also said of the wave of sexual harassment allegations, "I wanted to do it on my own show with my, in my own way. It is touching everyone's lives and from all sides. And just when you think you know all the answers and everything is black and white your perspective changes. And you know, that's gonna happen to a lot of people, maybe even everybody."
