Jen Kirkman Tells Village Voice, Louis C.K. Never Exposed Himself to Her

“There are rumors out there that Louis takes his dick out at women. He has never done that to me.”

It was two years ago that Jen Kirkman first publically talked about a powerful “known perv” comedian who had made making a decision to tour with him uncomfortable. The world believed she was talking about Louis C.K. and further believed that Kirkman’s statements fueled an earlier Gawker rumor (2012) that a beloved comedian liked to force female comics to watch him masturbate. Since that initial blind item got the ball rolling, articles have popped up keeping the rumors fresh, but until now, Kirkman has remained silent on the subject and nobody has come forward to specifically point fingers. C.K. has remained equally mum on the topic, addressing the issue only long enough to say he wouldn’t address the issue.

But now, Kirkman addresses the rumor head-on in a new interview with the Village Voice published Monday. She said she is aware of rumors that Louis takes his dick out at women. But she adds, “he has never done that to me. ” Moreover, she emphasizes that she never said or implied that he did, and she is unaware of anyone who has been on the receiving end of Louis’ shenanigans. “What I said was, when you hear rumors about someone, and they ask you to go on the road with them, this is what being a woman in comedy is like — imagine if there’s always a chance of rain over your head, but [with] men, there isn’t. So you go, ‘Should I leave the house with an umbrella, or not?'”

The new statement doesn’t completely jive with or explain the initial comments. You can’t hear them, because Kirkman deleted the podcast because of all the trouble it was stirring up. But Gothamist posted a transcript of the original statements about the “very famous comic” who she described as “at Cosby level at this point” and “a genius” and “basically a French filmmaker” with new material every year, who is a “known perv.” She said there was a “lockdown on talking about him. His guy friends are standing by him, and you cannot say a bad thing about him.” Even with her 2017 clarifications, her 2015 comments still seem to indicate that something inappropriate did happen to her prior to that podcast. “This guy didn’t rape me,” she said, “but he made a certain difficult decision to go on tour with him really hard. Because I knew if I did, I would get more of the same weird treatment I’d been getting from him. And it was really fucked up, and this person was married. So it was not good, and so I hold a lot of resentment.”

But her 2017 statements are crystal clear. Not only has she never been harassed by C.K., but she’s not aware of anyone complaining. “Sometimes there’s nothing there. I think this might be a case of there’s nothing there. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong, and if any women want to come forward and say what he’s done, I’ll totally back them, because I believe women. But I just don’t know any.”

What Kirkman wants most of all is for the focus to be on her current tour, which by the way is in New York City this week. Kirkman is a powerhouse of a comedian whose strong views frequently lead to Twitter fights late into the night. Her last hour, I’m Gonna Die Alone (And I Feel Fine), is bitingly clever, unflinching, fiery and absolutely hilarious. She’s also one of our favorite Drunk History narrators.

You can catch her at the Highline on Thursday 9/21 and The Bell House on Friday 9/22.  Click for tickets.

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