Jerry Seinfeld thinks fellow comedian Louis C.K.’s recent return to the stand-up stage wasn’t premature, but it was “the way he did it” that people didn’t agree with. Actually, no, “some people didn’t like that he’s doing it at all.” But Seinfeld seems to think that’s to be expected when a star falls from grace.
Last fall, C.K. faced multiple accusations of sexual misconduct.
“We know the routine: The person does something wrong,” Seinfeld said in an interview with the New York Times published on Friday. “The person’s humiliated. They’re exiled. They suffer, we want them to suffer. We love the tumble, we love the crash and bang of the fall. And then we love the crawl-back. The grovel. Are you going to grovel? How long are you going to grovel? Are you going to cry? Are you going to Jimmy Swaggart?”
“And people, I think, figured they had that coming with Louie — he owes us that,” he continued. “We, the court of public opinion, decided if he’s going to come back, he’d better show a lot of pain. Because he denied them that.”
As for whether or not he thinks C.K. needs to back off for now, Seinfeld added: “I can’t say what he should do. You do whatever you want. If he does it wrong, he’s going to suffer. And that’s his deal.”