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Louis C.K. mocks school shooting survivors, nonbinary people in leaked audio from new set

By Lillian Brown Globe Correspondent,December 31, 2018, 11:34 a.m.
Louis C.K.Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/file

In newly surfaced audio, comedian Louis C.K. was recorded performing a stand-up routine that mocked school shooting survivors and nonbinary people. Originally posted on YouTube, the tape has since been removed, but other recordings were made.

In the set, C.K., whose career imploded in 2017 after several women said he masturbated in front of them without their consent, said that he was disappointed in today’s younger generation, because when he was younger, he and his friends “were idiots.” He focused especially on the survivors of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., ridiculing the students’ efforts to draw attention to gun violence.

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“They testify in front of Congress, these kids. Like, what the [expletive]? 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 you . . .’ [Expletive] you. 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? How does that make you interesting? You didn’t get shot. You pushed some fat kid in the way and now I’ve got to listen to you talking?”

He said that the current generation is boring and complained that they’re always telling people not to say things.

“ ‘You should address me’,” C.K. said in a mocking voice. “They’re like royalty. They tell you what to call them. ‘You should address me as they/them, because I identify as gender neutral.’ ”

“Oh, OK, OK,” C.K. said. “You should address me as ‘there,’ because I identify as a location and the location is your mother’s [expletive].”

While it’s unclear when the recording was made, it appears to be relatively recent. C.K., who grew up in Newton, references to being 51, his age as of September. After being accused of and then admitting to sexual misconduct in November 2017, C.K. began performing intermittently once again in August.

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People immediately responded to the set online, most condemning his remarks.

“The only thing funny about this man is that he thought saying any of that was a good idea,” Parkland school shooting survivor Sofie Whitney tweeted in response to the stand-up routine. “He must be really intimidated by us kids.”

Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jamie Guttenberg was murdered in the Parkland shooting, tweeted, “To anyone who knows Louis CK, please deliver this message for me. My daughter was killed in the Parkland shooting. My son ran from the bullets. My wife and I deal with loss everyday. Why don’t you come to my house and try out your new pathetic jokes?”

“Louis CK took a look at that Kevin Spacey video and asked us to hold all the beers ever in existence in the universe,” Chris Mohney wrote in a tweet.

“I have enjoyed the dramatic stylings of Kevin Spacey and have rarely laughed as hard as I did at Louis CK live but after seeing both those guys waltz right into the teeth of their own horrible characters I have no problem being done with them forever.”

Lillian Brown

Lillian Brown can be reached at lillian.brown@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @lilliangbrown.

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