HBO is parting ways with Louis C.K. in the wake of recent misconduct claims.
The premium cable network is dropping the comic from Night of Too Many Stars, its upcoming autism special, and is also pulling the C.K.’s previous standup specials and series from its on-demand services. The move comes after the Louie star was accused of sexual harassment by five different women in The New York Times on Thursday (Nov. 9) who claimed C.K. either masturbated in front of them or asked them permission to do so.
“Louis C.K. will no longer be participating in the Night of Too Many Stars: America Unites for Autism Programs, which will be presented live on HBO on November 18,” HBO said in a statement. “In addition, HBO is removing Louis C.K.’s past projects from its On Demand services.” C.K.’s other HBO projects include the short-lived 2006 comedy series Lucky Louie, along with comedy specials One Night Stand, Shameless and Oh My God.
C.K. was announced on Oct. 19 as a performer for Night of Too Many Stars, which will be hosted by former Daily Show personality Jon Stewart. Other appearances are expected by Stephen Colbert, Abbi Jacobson, Jordan Klepper, Hasan Minhaj, John Mulaney, Olivia Munn, John Oliver and Adam Sandler.
Night of Too Many Stars is one of a number of projects that C.K. is currently involved in. He has a film, I Love You, Daddy, that was scheduled to be released on Nov. 17, but its distributor Orchard says it is “giving careful consideration to the timing and release of the film and continuing to review the situation.”
C.K. also has a massive overall deal at FX, where his Emmy-winning semi-autobiographical comedy Louie ran for five seasons. He also has a creator credit on Pamela Adlon’s Better Things and Zach Galifianakis’ Baskets. In addition, the comedian has a standup special deal with Netflix, an executive producer credit on Amazon’s One Mississippi and his self-released dramedy Horace and Pete streams on Hulu.
While FX has yet to drop the actor-comedian from any of the many shows he is attached to there, the network did release a statement on Thursday: “We are obviously very troubled by the allegations about Louis C.K. published in The New York Times today. The network has received no allegations of misconduct by Louis C.K. related to any of our 5 shows produced together over the past 8 years… That said, the matter is currently under review.”
This article originally appeared in THR.com.
