Leaked Louis C.K. Audio Mocks School Shooting Victims and Identity Politics

Louis C.K. seems to really be leaning into his new controversial persona. Audio surfaced Sunday from a recent Louis C.K. set where the disgraced comedian weighed in on school shooting survivors and gender labels. While the content that was originally posted on YouTube has since been removed, TMZ reports that the set was recorded on December 16. Snippets of it can still be heard on Twitter.

According to Paste, Louis’s set may be close to a full hour of new material, comprised of conservative-leaning humor mocking identity politics and making fun of teens who request they/them pronouns. As TMZ writes, “at one point, he criticizes the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting from this past February.”

In the clip, he does a bit comparing his generation to today’s youth, calling out young adults for being too politically correct and opinionated. But that’s when he goes after the Parkland students and things start to go south. He then criticizes “these kids” for donning suits and testifying in Congress. He continues, “You’re not interesting because you went to a high school where kids got shot. Why does that mean I have to listen to you? …You didn’t get shot, you pushed some fat kid in the way.”

C.K.’s attempted return to comedy has been a bumpy road so far. This fall the comedian started performing short sets at the Comedy Cellar and other clubs in New York City after admitting his sexual misconduct with several women. In response, a handful of protesters began appearing at his shows throughout the New York scene, holding signs with slogans like “Does this sign make you uncomfortable, Louie?” and “When you support Louis C.K., you tell women your laughter is more important than their sexual assaults and loss of their careers.”

The scandal cost C.K. his deals with FX Networks, Netflix and Universal Pictures, which axed him from the sequel to the animated film The Secret Life of Pets. The release of his film, I Love You, Daddy, which featured storylines similar to his real-life misconduct, was also put on hold.

A New York Times Culture writer in attendance of one of the recent sets tweeted that C.K.’s set alluded to the controversy surrounding his downfall. Louis began the set by asking the crowd, “So what kind of year have you guys had? They tell you that when you get in trouble you find out who your real friends are. It’s black people, it turns out. They’ll stick by you.” He continued telling the audience he needed to perform again because he needed the income after losing $35 million in a single day.

On December 3, a woman named Klaire Randall was at the Comedy Cellar for one of his surprise appearances. During a quiet moment in the set, she loudly heckled C.K. with a sexually explicit comment and was asked to leave the club (though Cellar reps say she left on her own accord). She shared a tweet about her experience that quickly went viral. The tweet (that now appears to come from a newly-protected account) read, “Hello from your friend who just got asked to leave Comedy Cellar for telling Louis C.K. to get his d*ck out on stage.”

Louis seems to be caught in a downward spiral that is progressively getting worse.

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