Newton's Louis C.K. Admits Sexual Misconduct: 'Stories Are True'

NEWTON, MA — A day after five women the New York Times reported five women came forward with accusations of sexual misconduct by comedian and actor Louis C.K., he's admitting to it.

"These stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn’t a question. It’s a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly," he said in a public statement.

He's the latest Hollywood personality to be accused of sexual harassment, joining a growing list including Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Tom Wopat and Bill Cosby.

A comedy duo from Chicago told the Times that C.K. invited them to his hotel room in 2002 following a festival in Aspen, Colorado, and asked them if he could take out his penis. At first they thought he was joking, but then he stripped naked and started masturbating, they told the newspaper.

A writer and illustrator told the Times that she could hear C.K. masturbating as they spoke on the phone. Another woman accused C.K. of asking her to masturbate in front of him in 2005. A fifth woman said C.K. repeatedly asked her to watch him masturbate when she was working for the Chris Rock show in the late 1990 where he was a writer and producer.

A publicist for C.K. did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. Another publicist told the Times the comedian would not respond to their reporting.

Although C.K. was born in Washington and spent his early years in Mexico, he came to Newton and attended Day Junior High School and Newton North High School in mid-80s with future 'Friends' star Matt LeBlanc. C.K. revealed in interviews it was while at Newton North he first got into drugs. His 1982 Jr. High yearbook photo quote? "Will always remember how stupid the Newton School system was."

In a Rolling Stone interview C.K. said it was a staff member at North that got him a gig at a public access TV cable station in the area. He attributes it to saving his life.

The Emmy-winning star of FX’s “Louie” is known for his candid, warts-and-all personal humor, which also involves bodily fluids and sex.

The New York premiere of Louis C.K.'s controversial new film "I Love You, Daddy" was canceled amid controversy. The film tells the story of a successful TV writer-producer who tries to stop his 17-year-old daughter's growing admiration and relationship with a 68-year-old filmmaker.

C.K. scheduled appearance on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" on Friday was also canceled.

Allegations of questionable sexual behavior have long dogged C.K and he said this summer that he and co-writer Vernon Chatman wanted to make a movie about beloved artists who are trailed by murmurs of scandal.

The full statement:

I want to address the stories told to the New York Times by five women named Abby, Rebecca, Dana, Julia who felt able to name themselves and one who did not.

These stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn’t a question. It’s a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly.

I have been remorseful of my actions. And I’ve tried to learn from them. And run from them. Now I’m aware of the extent of the impact of my actions. I learned yesterday the extent to which I left these women who admired me feeling badly about themselves and cautious around other men who would never have put them in that position.

I also took advantage of the fact that I was widely admired in my and their community, which disabled them from sharing their story and brought hardship to them when they tried because people who look up to me didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t think that I was doing any of that because my position allowed me not to think about it.

There is nothing about this that I forgive myself for. And I have to reconcile it with who I am. Which is nothing compared to the task I left them with.

I wish I had reacted to their admiration of me by being a good example to them as a man and given them some guidance as a comedian, including because I admired their work.

The hardest regret to live with is what you’ve done to hurt someone else. And I can hardly wrap my head around the scope of hurt I brought on them. I’d be remiss to exclude the hurt that I’ve brought on people who I work with and have worked with who’s professional and personal lives have been impacted by all of this, including projects currently in production: the cast and crew of Better Things, Baskets, The Cops, One Mississippi, and I Love You Daddy. I deeply regret that this has brought negative attention to my manager Dave Becky who only tried to mediate a situation that I caused. I’ve brought anguish and hardship to the people at FX who have given me so much The Orchard who took a chance on my movie. and every other entity that has bet on me through the years.

I’ve brought pain to my family, my friends, my children and their mother.

I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen.

Thank you for reading.

Click here for the full The New York Times report And click here for the Rolling Stone interview.

The Associated Press and Patch National Staff Ben Feuerherd contributed to this report.

Watch Now: Louis C.K. Accused Of Sexual Misconduct

Photo credit: Charles Sykes/Invision for the Television Academy

Also on Patch: Tom Wopat Accused of Indecently Assaulting A Teen