Louis C.K. drops a new comedy special on his website a little more than two years after sex scandal

Louis C.K. surprised fans by releasing a new comedy special, which fans can stream for $8 from his own self-titled website.

The 52-year-old has been mostly absent from the spotlight in recent years, ever since allegations arose in the fall of 2017 from several sources accusing him of sexual misconduct.

In a statement announcing the move on Saturday on his site, the father of two said he felt it was important to make people laugh amid the devastating coronavirus pandemic.

‘One kind needs to laugh when things get sh***y. In fact, the sh***ier things get, the more serious, the more dark the more terrifying, the more dangerous and dire anything is, the more important it is to laugh in the midst of it and often directly in its face,’ he wrote.

He continued: ‘The other kind of people feel that it’s important to put aside laughter in times of difficulty and give serious And painful things the respect and the silence due to them.

‘And to bow their heads to the tragic and to show kindness to people who are afraid and hurting by not making light of their fears or pain.

‘I don’t think that either one of these kinds of people is right over the other. I can only say that I belong to the first group,’ he said in conclusion, before adding that he hopes his new special will help ‘those who need to laugh’ and that ‘for those of you that can’t laugh right now I just wish you all the peace you can grab in this sh***y sh***y time.’

As a P.S. to his note, Louis informed his readers that the new special is ‘not free or anything,’ setting the price per download at $7.99. 

The funnyman, born Louis Székely, has no credits on his IMDb page past 2017 as writer, producer or performer, and this special is the first he’s produced since his 2017 Netflix standup entry – shortly before the streaming network severed ties with him.

In November of 2017, a New York Times article was published in which sexual harassment claims were made against C.K. by five women, most of whom said he masturbated in front of them in nonconsensual and often bizarre circumstances.

The following day, the ostracized star released a statement in which he admitted that the stories published were true, and apologized for the harm he had caused.

Louis, who at that point was a lauded and award-winning writer and producer, quickly all of his professional prospect dry up or grind to a halt, even on projects that had already begun (his casting was replaced by other actors in more than one instance).

And although some fellow comedians including Chris Rock and Sarah Silverman defended his right to resume standup the following year, others, like Rose Byrne and Judd Apatow, said it was too soon for Louis to return to the mic. 

Nonetheless, C.K. has been making the rounds on the standup circuit, and even launched a comeback tour last year, but the new special is his first filmed content in at least three years.