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Comedian Louis C.K. is under fire for sexual misconduct allegations by several women. According to a report by The New York Times, five women accuse the longtime comedian and filmmaker of sexually harassing or assaulting them.
Among the accusers are the female comedy duo Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov, who told their story to the newspaper. They said that in 2002, they were invited by Louis C.K. to his hotel room to “hang out” for a nightcap after their show. As they arrived, they said Louis C.K. asked if he could “take out his penis.” They said that at first, they assumed it was a joke until he “really did it.” They claim that he took off his clothes and started masturbating in front of them.
Louis C.K. has since admitted to the allegations against him. He said in a statement that he was naive and didn’t realize the power he held over the women. To read his full statement, click here.
Louis C.K., 50, has been active in the entertainment industry since the mid 1980s and has acted, written, produced, directed and edited numerous films throughout his career. He’s arguably best known for his stand-up routines, in which he often speaks about his personal life.
Several of his jokes mention his children and his ex-wife Alix Bailey. They were married for over 13 years until they filed for divorced nearly a decade ago. Bailey, 50, has appeared in some of his films and is an established painter based in New York City.
Here’s what you need to know about Louis C.K. and Bailey:
1. Louis C.K. & Bailey Were Married for 13 Years & Had 2 Children Together
It’s not clear exactly how Louis C.K. and Bailey met in the first place, but they got married in 1995. Various media reports say that the couple met before Louis C.K.’s successful career in the entertainment industry. The couple were married for 13 years and had two daughters together: Kitty was born in 2002 and Mary Louise was born in 2005. Louis C.K. frequently mentions both of his daughters in various stand-up routines and on his comedic TV show, Louie.
However, the two ended up getting a divorce in 2008 and entered a joint custody agreement, GQ reported in a 2011 feature story. Louis C.K. told the magazine that following their divorce, he started dating women younger, but he quickly grew tired of it.
“It was really exciting,” he said of the prospect of dating the younger women. “But after a while I was like, ‘This is just dumb.’ You date someone younger and it’s…limited. There’s no future in it. And as far as just going out and getting laid, that kinda got tired for me very quickly. It’s just…it’s very intimate. You’re letting her right into the middle of your life. You see someone and you’re like, ‘She’s really hot, I want to be naked with her.’ And then you’re naked with her and you’re like, Jesus, she’s in my f***ing room and we’re naked. The idea of that — of just f***ing somebody — became silly to me.”
The comedian also talked about how hard the first year after his split with Bailey was, saying he couldn’t ever talk about her in his routines anymore.
“I couldn’t really talk about (Bailey) anymore,” he said to the magazine. “Not that I was ever really talking about her, exactly, but now I couldn’t do that at all. I couldn’t talk about the woman I was divorced from. She deserves her privacy. But that meant I had no idea where I was going to get material. It was like, ‘Oh, shit, there goes my act.'”
In the interview, he didn’t really offer any more details on why the pair split, other than saying they suddenly stopped making each other happy.
“I just sat in my pajamas for like two years and I was nothing for my kids,” he said to GQ about his reaction following their separation. “Eventually I climbed out of it and was just like, ‘I can’t do this. I can’t f**k around like this.’ I focused on the kids, and they saved my life. I thought, ‘Everything’s based on them now.'”
2. Bailey Is an Established Painter in New York City
Louis C.K., star of Louie, is up for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy at the 2014 Emmy Awards.
Bailey grew up in New Haven, Connecticut and in Italy. She’s the daughter of two Italian painters. According to her biography on her artist website, she studied painting from Bennington College and was taught by the likes of Pat Adams and Sidney Tillim, two established artists.
Bailey is currently a member of The Painting Center in New York City, where she lives with her two daughters. Her paintings have received much praise over the years, and they’ve appeared in some high-profile gallerys.
To see some of Bailey’s paintings, click here.
A review by Larry Groff at the Blue Mountain Gallery Group Show spoke glowingly of one of her paintings, Self Portrait Mantel.
“The resolving chord of the figure’s pale blue blouse and brown hair against the ethereal pale green mantel and interior space is enormously satisfying and makes it difficult to move on to the next painting,” Groff wrote.
Some of Bailey’s artwork was used in the 2001 Louis C.K. film Pootie Tang.
3. Bailey Has Appeared in Several of Louis C.K.’s Films
According to her biography on IMDb, Bailey was born February 3, 1967 and has acted in several movies. In 1998, she played a small role in the Louis C.K. comedic film Tomorrow Night and then starred in a segment produced by her former husband — Persona Ne’ll Aqua — as seen in the video above.
In 2006, about two years before their separation, Bailey appeared in one of Louis C.K.’s short films titled Searching for Nixon.
Most recently, though, Bailey portrayed “Alice” in the 2016 family-adventure film Spooky Stakeout. The movie is about four teenagers who are tasked at solving a mystery in a haunted castle.
4. Louis C.K. Said He & Bailey Were in Marriage Therapy in 2007
Prior to their divorce, Louis C.K. frequently spoke about Bailey and their relationship. In a Q&A, he called their marriage “traditional,” saying that he makes all the money and she raises the kids.
“If I mention that I pay the bills, I’m a f***ing asshole,” he said. “Marriage is harder now than it ever has been.”
He added that toward the end of their relationship, he tried to save things.
“My kids are my life now, I really don’t give a s**t about (Bailey),” Louis C.K. said. “I’ve got a lot of history with my wife and it’s a complicated relationship and I feel a lot of push and pull in many directions and I’m fighting really hard to save it. We’re in therapy and my whole life right now is focused on saving our relationship and getting it back to something good. But if my kids weren’t here, I wouldn’t even call her to say goodbye.”
Louis C.K. would reference Bailey on numerous occasions during his stand-up routines. Instead of mentioning her by name, he called her his wife in several jokes. One of his most popular jokes involved Bailey.
It was called the “Saddest Handjob in America,” and he spoke about how his wife performed the sexual act on him, but it was the “saddest thing that ever happened in America.” In the joke, the comedian says they were home during the day and were sitting on the couch and Bailey looked at him and said something to him that he wasn’t interested in. Soon enough, the couple were in one of their daughters’ bedrooms.
Watch a video of the joke below, but be warned that it contains profane language and sexual content.
5. They Bought a Studio Apartment in Greenwich Village in 2016, Reports Say
Louis C.K.
A 2016 report by Variety says that although they’re divorced, Louis C.K. and Bailey paid $564,900 for a one-bathroom studio apartment in NYC. The studio apartment is located on the northern border of NYC’s West Village.
The Variety story said that Louis C.K. and Bailey owned three other small properties before purchasing the other. The description of the studio apartment refers to it as a “wee studio” that was available on the housing market for about one year. It reportedly has “a puny entrance vestibule and a combination living/dining/sleeping space with high ceilings, narrow-guage honey blonde wood floors and a decorative period fireplace.”
Variety wrote that the former couple also purchased a small apartment in August 2013 for $250,000. A third apartment unit was purchased for $475,000.
