Abstract
With the announcement of allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault against beloved comedians, we ask, “Can one separate the art from the artist?” Comedians are supposed to bring audiences joy and laughter; however, this role is challenged when there is incongruity between the comic persona and the real-life misdeeds of comedians. We explore the rise of the #MeToo movement and the role of comedy in exposing as well as masking allegations against Bill Cosby, Louis C.K., Al Franken, and Aziz Ansari. Guided by disposition theory and disengagement models, findings reveal factors of race, gender, and personal relationships appear to influence comedians’ assessment of fellow comedians accused of sexual misconduct. Audience members also appear to experience moral disengagement.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
The USO provides live entertainment to the US Armed Forces.
References
Ansari, A., & Klinenberg, E. (2015). Modern romance. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
Bandura, A. (2002). Selective moral disengagement in the exercise of moral agency. Journal of Moral Education, 31, 101–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305724022014322
Bee, S. (Producer), & Allen, A. (Director). (2017, December 6). Full frontal with Samantha Bee [Television broadcast]. New York, NY: TBS.
Benshoff, L. (2018, April 27). Cosby convicted of sexual assault. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2018/04/27/606292771/cosby-convicted-of-sexual-assault1/
Brumm, M. (Producer). (2017, November 9). Late show with Stephen Colbert [Television broadcast]. New York, NY: CBS.
Carr, D. (2014, November 24). Calling out Bill Cosby’s media enablers, including myself. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/business/media/calling-out-bill-cosbys-media-enablers-including-myself.html
Casey, P. (Director). (2017, November 17). Real time with Bill Maher [Television broadcast]. Los Angeles, CA: HBO.
Chaney, J. (2017, November 9). The controversial episode of Louie that now plays like a 21-minute confessional. Vulture. Retrieved from http://www.vulture.com/2017/11/louis-ck-scandal-louie-pamela-episode.html
Chappelle, D. (Producer), & Lathan, S. (Director). (2017, December 31). Dave Chappelle: The bird revelation. Los Angeles, CA: Netflix.
Desantis, R. (2017, November 9). Here are the many times Louis C.K. has joked about masturbation. New York Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/times-louis-joked-masturbation-article-1.3622478
Djvlad. [Username]. (2015, December 30). Eddie Griffin on Bill Cosby: Black male stars don’t leave this business clean [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpOo-DtgUjs
Eye Sight. [Username]. (2014, October 29). Hannibal Buress called Bill Cosby a rapist during a stand up [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzB8dTVALQI
France, L. R. (2015, July 14). Whoopi Goldberg changes stance on Bill Cosby. CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/14/entertainment/whoopi-goldberg-bill-cosby-feat/index.html
Freud, S. (1905/1990). Jokes and their relations to the unconscious. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
Haddish, T. (2017). The last black unicorn. New York, NY: Gallery Books.
Hansen, B. (2017, November 27). Not so funny business – My experience of sexual harassment as a stand up comedian. Work+Money. Retrieved from https://www.workandmoney.com/s/sexual-harassment-stand-up-comedian-3ce9db4fe40d48b0
Howard, A. (2015, December 31). Eddie Griffin defends Cosby, alleges ‘systematic effort to destroy’ black male stars. MSNBC. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/comedian-eddie-griffin-defends-cosby-sites-systematic-effort-destroy-black-male-entertainers
Juul, M. (2017, November 6). Iliza Schlesinger on Harvey Weinstein and sexual harassment in comedy. Metro. Retrieved from https://www.metro.us/things-to-do/boston/iliza-shlesinger
Kane, T. R., Suls, J., & Tedeschi, J. T. (1977). Humour as a tool of social interaction. In A. J. Chapman & H. C. Foot (Eds.), It’s a funny thing, humour (pp. 13–16). Elmsford, NJ: Pergamon.
Klepper, J. (Producer), & O’Neil, C. (Director). (2017, November 9). The opposition with Jordan Klepper [Television broadcast]. New York, NY: Comedy Central.
Knoles, L. (Director). (2015, November 23). 18th annual Kennedy Center Mark Twain awards [Television broadcast]. Washington, DC: PBS.
Kost, R. (2019, March 11). In the wake of #MeToo, celebrity redemption is a “problematic placebo.” San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved from https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/in-the-wake-of-metoo-celebrity-redemption-is-a-problematic-placebo
Krakowiak, K. M., & Oliver, M. B. (2012). When good characters do bad things: Examining the effect of moral ambiguity on enjoyment. Journal of Communication, 62(1), 117–135.
Lewis, H. (2017, December 4). Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee talk Louis C.K., Matt Lauer sexual misconduct claims. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/stephen-colbert-samantha-bee-talk-louis-ck-matt-lauer-trump-michael-flynn-tax-bill-at-montclair-film-1063865
Martinelli, M. (2017, November 16). Master of None’s sexual harassment episode now feels weirdly prophetic. Slate’s Culture Blog. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/11/16/revisiting_master_of_none_s_harassment_episode_after_the_louis_c_k_revelations.html
Michaels, L. (Producer), & Briganti, P. (Director). (2017, November 11). Saturday night live [Television broadcast]. New York, NY: NBC.
Michaels, L. (Producer), & King, D. R. (Director). (2014, November 22). Saturday night live [Television broadcast]. New York, NY: NBC.
Mischer, D. (Director). (2013, February 24). The 85th Academy Awards [Television broadcast]. Los Angeles, CA: ABC.
Moyer, J. W. (2015, September 8). Damon Wayans obliterated for defending Bill Cosby: ‘Some of them, really, is un-rapeable.’ Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/09/08/damon-wayans-obliterated-for-defending-bill-cosby-some-of-them-really-is-un-rapeable/?utm_term=.33041e2b43a4
North A. (2019a, February 13). Aziz Ansari actually talked about the sexual misconduct allegations against him like an adult. Vox. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/2019/2/13/18223535/aziz-ansari-sexual-misconduct-allegation-me-too
North, A. (2019b, January 9). Louis C.K. and Aziz Ansari have an opportunity for redemption. They’re squandering it. Vox. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/2019/1/9/18172273/louis-ck-comeback-parkland-aziz-ansari-metoo
Notaro, T. (Producer), & Spiro, M. (Director). (2017, September 8). Can’t fight this feeling. [Television series episode] One Mississippi. Los Angeles, CA: Amazon Video.
Nudd, T. (2015, July 8). Whoopi Goldberg gets threats over defense of Bill Cosby, tells critics: ‘Back off me!’ People.com. Retrieved from http://people.com/crime/whoopi-goldberg-defends-bill-cosby-again-and-tells-critics-back-off-me/
O’Malley, K. (2018, May 24). Sarah Silverman doesn’t understand why Louis C.K. and Aziz Ansari ‘can’t continue being artists.’ Elle. Retrieved from https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/culture/a20895502/sarah-silverman-louis-ck-aziz-ansari-artists-sexual-misconduct/
Peterson, J. L. (2014, November 16). Attack on Bill Cosby is not laughing matter. WND. Retrieved from http://www.wnd.com/20on-billcosby-isnolaughingmatter
Peyser (2017, November 10). Comedians didn’t need to be such assholes about the Louis C.K. rumors. Vice. Retrieved from https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/zmz8x4/comedians-didnt-need-to-be-such-assholes-about-the-louis-ck-rumors
Podrazik, J. (2013, March 14). Oprah’s life lesson from Maya Angelou: ‘When people show you who they are, believe them.’ Huffpost. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oprah-life-lesson-maya-angelou_n_2869235
Potter, G. S. (2017, November 17). A survivor’s defense of Al Franken. Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@SIIPCampaigns/a-survivors-defense-of-al-franken-ea994c5bbc9a
Puente, M. (2015, September 8). Damon Wayans attacks Cosby accusers as ‘un-rape-able,’ won’t back down. USA Today. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2015/09/08/damon-wayans-defends-remarks-doesnt-believe-bill-cosby-accusers/71891570/
Raney, A. A. (2004). Expanding disposition theory: Reconsidering character liking, moral evaluations, and enjoyment. Communication Theory, 14, 348–369. https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/14.4.348
Ryzik, M., Buckley, C., & Kantor, J. (2017, November 9). Louis C.K. is accused by 5 women of sexual misconduct. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/09/arts/television/louis-ck-sexual-misconduct.html
Schumer, A. (Producer), & McFaul, R. (Director). (2015, May 26). Inside Amy Schumer [Television broadcast]. New York, NY: Comedy Central.
Schwartz, R. (2017, November 10). Stephen Colbert, fellow late-night hosts address Louis C.K. sexual misconduct allegations. TV Line. Retrieved from http://tvline.com/2017/11/10/louis-ck-sexual-harassment-scandal-stephen-colbert-seth-meyers-video/
Sethi, M. (Writer), & Gonzalez, J. C. (Director). (2015). Yes and [Television series episode]. In R. Bob-Waksberg (Producer), BoJack Horseman, Season 2 Episode 10 (July 17, 2015). Hollywood, CA: ShadowMachine.
Silverman, S. (Producer), & Kartun, A. (Director). (2017, November 16). I love you, America. Los Angeles, CA: Hulu.
Suebsaeng, A. (2017). ‘Silicon Valley’ star T.J. Miller accused of sexually assaulting and punching a woman. The Daily Beast. Retrieved from https://www.thedailybeast.com/silicon-valley-star-tj-miller-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-and-punching-a-woman
Teta, B. (Producer). (2017, December 11). The view [Television broadcast]. New York, NY: ABC.
Tholmer, J. (2018, January 14). People are having very different reactions to the Aziz Ansari sexual assault story. Hello Giggles. Retrieved from https://babe.net/2018/01/13/aziz-ansari-28355
VanArendonk, K. (2017, November 14). Why some artists are never separated from their work (and why Louis C.K. was). Vulture. Retrieved from http://www.vulture.com/2017/11/louis-c-k-and-separating-artists-from-their-work.html
Wanshel, E. (2017, December 15). Tig Notaro says it’s a ‘huge relief’ to have Louis C.K.’s name off her show. Huffington Post. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tig-notaro-louis-ck-the-view_us_5a2fea10e4b01598ac483306
Way, K. (2018, January 13). I went on a date with Aziz Ansari and it turned into the worst night of my life. Babe.net. Retrieved from https://babe.net/2018/01/13/aziz-ansari-28355
Weiss, B. (2018, January 15). Aziz Ansari is guilty. Of not being a mind reader. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/15/opinion/aziz-ansari-babe-sexual-harassment.html
Wolff, B. (Producer). (2015, July 14). The view [Television broadcast]. New York, NY: ABC.
Yuan, J. (2017, May 26). Aziz Ansari recaps Master of None: Why Dev’s sad cab ride in ‘The dinner party’ is a ‘very personal thing.’ Vulture. Retrieved from http://www.vulture.com/2017/05/aziz-ansari-recaps-master-of-none-the-dinner-party.html
Zillmann, D. (2000). Basal morality in drama appreciation. In I. Bondebjerg (Ed.), Moving images, culture, and the mind (pp. 53–63). Luton, UK: University of Luton Press.
Zillmann, D., & Cantor, J. (1972). Directionality of transitory dominance as a communication variable affecting humor appreciation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 24(2), 191–198.
Zillmann, D., & Cantor, J. (1976). A disposition theory of humor and mirth. In A. J. Chapman & H. Foot (Eds.), Humor and laughter: Theory, research, and application (pp. 93–115). Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Oppliger, P.A., Mears, K. (2020). Comedy in the Era of #MeToo: Masking and Unmasking Sexual Misconduct in Stand-Up Comedy. In: Oppliger, P.A., Shouse, E. (eds) The Dark Side of Stand-Up Comedy. Palgrave Studies in Comedy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37214-9_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37214-9_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-37213-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-37214-9
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)