In 2017, Louis CK was largely exiled from comedy after five women accused him of sexual misconduct at the height of the #MeToo movement. Cut to 2026, and he’s headlining a show at the Hollywood Bowl as part of the Netflix Comedy Festival.
CK took the stage in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, and the show marked the final stop of the “Ridiculous” world tour he has been on for the past year. The popular venue was about 75 percent full, mostly male fans in their 20s and 30s, who came alive as the comedian began his set after four opening shows.
He never addressed the misconduct allegations – the women claimed he masturbated in front of them or on the phone with them and CK later admitted to his behaviour, saying he thought at the time it was appropriate because he asked first – and returned to his usual raunchy material. The joke hour centered largely around sex, with penis and vagina parts, sexually transmitted diseases and Barely legal magazine.
The 58-year-old comedian also spoke about his love life, revealing that he has a girlfriend and believes in dating women his own age. “If I date young women, there is sexual pressure. But with a woman my age, I say, ‘Do you want to have sex?’ She says, ‘Nah,’ and I say, ‘Yes, fine.’ And if I do, there’s no condom.” He later said: “I think it’s crazy that it’s legal for me to date an 18-year-old, which is ridiculous. That’s a 40-year difference. You shouldn’t have sex with someone if the years between you are the age of a woman who can’t get pregnant naturally.”
When he finished his set, CK received a standing ovation from the audience. “This was my last show, the last time I told those jokes, and I’m really glad I told you,” he said in response. “Thank you so much for coming. Thanks Netflix, I really appreciate this party.”
It’s not his only gig with Netflix either, as in addition to the comedy festival, the streamer will be premiering CK’s upcoming comedy special, sillyon the platform this summer. silly Directed and executive produced by CK himself and executive produced by Leah Cohen Zuckerman and Brady Nasville. He previously worked with Netflix on his 2017 special.
CK has been slowly rebuilding his career over the past eight years. Following the misconduct report, FX cut ties with CK and terminated his overall deal, during which he also lost executive producer credits on multiple shows and was dropped by his management and publicity company. It is a film in which he starred, wrote and directed. I love you, dadwas also dropped by the distributor. Since then, he has played larger venues around the world and released a novel, Ingram (which was sold as his only merchandise at the show), along with several other creative side projects.
In an email to subscribers to his newsletter when the Netflix prank debut was first announced, CK described the Hollywood Bowl set as “the final show of this tour that has taken me around the world and will likely be my last large-scale comedy show for a long time.” “I hope you can achieve that,” he added.
Netflix is a running joke through Sunday with hundreds of shows taking place across Los Angeles, featuring notable cast members like Dave Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld, John Mulaney, Nate Bargatzi, Chelsea Handler, Wanda Sykes and many more.
