Five women have accused comedian and actor Louis C.K. of sexual harassment, with Friends star Courteney Cox backing up allegations from one woman who says C.K. asked to masturbate in front of her on a television set in 2005.
“He leaned close to my face and said, ‘Can I ask you something?'” comedian Rebecca Corry, who was working on a pilot with C.K. in 2005 told The New York Times. “He asked if we could go to my dressing room so he could masturbate in front of me.”
Cox, who was an executive producer on the show along with then-husband David Arquette, confirmed Corry’s account.
“What happened to Rebecca on that set was awful,” Cox told The New York Times, adding she felt “outrage and shock” at C.K.’s behaviour.
“My concern was to create an environment where Rebecca felt safe, protected and heard.”
Corry said she declined C.K.’s proposition, reminding him of his wife and two children.
“His face got red,” she said. “And he told me he had issues.”
She is one of five women to come forward and accuse the 50-year-old comedian of sexual harassment in an explosive expose published by The New York Times.
It was 2002 when comedy duo from Chicago Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov performed at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado.
They were elated after the show – their first big break – and thought nothing of it when C.K. asked them to join him for a celebratory drink in his hotel room. It was cold out. Most of the bars were shut. He was respected – revered, even – in the industry. Why not?