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Louis CK tries to book a set. Club owner says yes, then reads up in detail on what he did, reaches out to friends and a CK victim for advice, and cancels the gig. jezebel.com/the-owner-of-o…
And yes, the club owner is a woman.
One thing about this story: It doesn't surprise me at all that she didn't know the specifics of the allegations when CK reached out. Not everyone follows the details of stories like this, even in their own industry.
But what's significant here is that when it became her professional responsibility to find out what the details were, she actually did that. So many people don't bother, even at that stage.
Think of Ian Buruma, who commissioned, published, and defended an essay by Jian Ghomeshi without ever bothering to find out the specifics of what he'd done and been accused of. Happens all the time. All the time.
And of course the specifics matter. They matter when you give someone a soapbox, and they matter when you invite someone into your place of business.
Every time I yammer about CK on here, a bunch of people come up and say "so people who are accused of bad things should never work again?" And I have to say, over and over, that CK isn't "accused of bad things." He's ADMITTED to WORKPLACE SEXUAL MISCONDUCT. There's a difference.
So the example Wende Curtis is setting here isn't just in banning CK from her club, although that's great too. It's in taking the process addressing this kind of misconduct seriously, beginning with making sure you know the facts before acting or speaking out.
Two quotes from the same Buruma interview:
1. "The reason I was interested in publishing it is precisely to help people think this sort of thing through."
2. "The exact nature of his behavior—how much consent was involved—I have no idea, nor is it really my concern."
1. "The reason I was interested in publishing it is precisely to help people think this sort of thing through."
2. "The exact nature of his behavior—how much consent was involved—I have no idea, nor is it really my concern."
There's no way to "help people think this sort of thing through" if you don't know—and don't care to find out—what "sort of thing" the thing you're talking about actually is. The specifics matter. Always.
