Ben Gabbe/Getty Images for Tribeca TV Festival
Louis C.K. is ending yet another year on a low note.
In recent months, the disgraced 51-year-old comedian has been working on new stand-up material at a few unannounced pop-up shows around the country, and his latest set comes 13 months after five women accused him of sexual misconduct. (C.K., who publicly apologized to his victims, was never charged with a crime.) If he was hoping to win over new fans—or at least win back his old ones—he’s going to have a tough time doing that, based on the reaction to leaked audio from a Dec. 16 show at an undisclosed location, in which he mocked the teen survivors from the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
(Excerpts from the set first appeared on a YouTube page that has been removed, TMZ said; Forbes called it a “bootlegged audio tape” preserved on Twitter by comedy writer Jack Allison.)
Saying he’s “disappointed in the younger generation” C.K. joked, “When I was, like, 18 through my 20s, we were idiots. We were f–king high, doing mushrooms and s—t! And then all of the old people were like, ‘You’ve got to get your s–t together!’ And we were like, ‘Yeah? F–k you!'”
Calling today’s kids “f–king boring,” C.K. complained they should act “crazy” and be less sensitive. “Why aren’t you finger f–king each other and doing Jell-O shots?” he wondered. Today’s youth is “like royalty,” he said as the audience howled. “They tell you what to call them. ‘You should address me as they/them, because I identify as gender neutral.’ OK, OK…You should address me as there, because I identify as a location—and the location is your mother’s c–t!”
“It doesn’t have to be that nasty,” he added, “but it can be!”
“They testified in front of Congress, these kids. Like, what the f–k? What are you doing? You’re young. You should be crazy. You should be unhinged—not in a suit saying, ‘I’m here to tell…’ F–k you. You’re not interesting ’cause you went to a high school where kids got shot. Why does that mean I have to listen to you? How does that make you interesting? You didn’t get shot!” the comedian said. “You pushed some fat kid in the way—and now I got to listen to you talking?!”
Emma González, David Hogg and other student survivors who have been vocal about implementing stronger gun control laws have not commented via social media on C.K.’s set. Other people on Twitter branded the comedian’s comments—especially those aimed at the young students—as “despicable,” “disgusting,” “inappropriate,” “insensitive” and “offensive.”