Sarah Silverman has revealed that comedy pal Louis C.K., who admitted to masturbating in front of multiple women without their permission last November, used to consensually masturbate in front of her.
“I don’t know if I’m going to regret saying this,” Silverman told Howard Stern on his SiriusXM radio show on Monday. “I’ve known Louis forever. I’m not making excuses for him, please don’t take this that way, but you know, we are peers. We are equals … When we were kids, and he asked if he could masturbate in front of me, sometimes I’d go, ‘F—k yeah I want to see that.'”
However, Silverman made clear that her experience does not compare to that of his accusers.
“It’s not analogous to the other women in this that are talking about what he did to them,” she said. “He could offer me nothing. We were only just friends. So sometimes, yeah, I wanted to see it, it was amazing. Sometimes I would say, ‘F—ing no, gross,’ and we got pizza.”
She continued, “We talked openly, you know, we were letting our freak flags fly … I’m just talking about separate experiences.”
The comic has been outspoken about her feelings on C.K.’s actions, stating that while he is one of her oldest friends, she believes he abused his power.
“He wielded his power with women in f–ked-up ways, sometimes to the point where they left comedy entirely,” she said on her Hulu series “I Love You America,” after the scandal occurred.
She then added, “Can you love someone who did bad things? … I hope it’s OK if I am at once very angry for the women he wronged and the culture that enabled it … and also sad, because he’s my friend.”
C.K., who took a step back from the spotlight after accusers came forward, has recently re-emerged with a new comedy routine where he jokes about and reflects on his sexual misconduct.