--- title: John Oliver Responds to Louis C K Sexual Misconduct description: John Oliver spent the bulk of Sunday’s season finale of Last Week Tonight skewering President Donald Trump, but the late-night host did find time to score one blow against disgraced comedian Louis C.K. canonical: https://time.com/5021309/john-oliver-louis-ck/ author: Entertainment Weekly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-13T15:28:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:48:44.066Z og:title: 'Completely Indefensible.' John Oliver Shows No Mercy for Louis C.K. og:description: Oliver was just one of the late night hosts to take on the Louis C.K. story og:url: https://time.com/5021309/john-oliver-louis-ck/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78540ebaef4c4449/6988e58f22fb8514cbe23a5a/john-oliver-last-week-tonight.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5520 og:image:height: 3105 og:image:alt: The New York Comedy Festival and The Bob Woodruff Foundation Present the 11th Annual Stand Up for Heroes Event og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Completely Indefensible.' John Oliver Shows No Mercy for Louis C.K. twitter:description: Oliver was just one of the late night hosts to take on the Louis C.K. story twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78540ebaef4c4449/6988e58f22fb8514cbe23a5a/john-oliver-last-week-tonight.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Completely Indefensible.' John Oliver Lays Into Louis C.K. With One Swift Joke > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=493486e4-624f-4d6d-9fb6-2904aab17963&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Christopher Rosen / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Christopher Rosen / Entertainment Weekly Nov 13, 2017 3:28 PM UTC  John Oliver attends the 11th Annual Stand Up for Heroes Event presented by The New York Comedy Festival and The Bob Woodruff Foundation at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on November 7, 2017 in New York City. John Oliver attends the 11th Annual Stand Up for Heroes Event presented by The New York Comedy Festival and The Bob Woodruff Foundation at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on November 7, 2017 in New York City. Bryan Bedder—Bob Woodruff Foundation/Getty Images by [Christopher Rosen / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Christopher Rosen / Entertainment Weekly Nov 13, 2017 3:28 PM UTC John Oliver spent the bulk of Sunday’s season finale of _Last Week Tonight_ skewering President Donald Trump, but the late-night host did find time to score one blow against comedian Louis C.K. During the opening of _Last Week Tonight_, Oliver ran through the past week of news, calling out the [_New York Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/09/arts/television/louis-ck-sexual-misconduct.html) exposé on Louis C.K.’s sexual misconduct, which included stories from five women who alleged the _Louie_ creator masturbated in front of them (either in person or on the phone). Louis C.K. later confirmed the “stories are true” in a statement. Said Oliver on Sunday, “_The New York Times_ reporting Louis C.K.’s gross sexual misconduct, which is completely indefensible, and which inevitably resulted in the cancellation of his new film, _Exhibit A if This Ever Goes to Trial_.” In reality, Louis C.K.’s new film, _I Love You, Daddy_, was pulled from the release calendar by its distributor. The movie — a black-and-white homage to Woody Allen films starring Louis C.K. as a famous television producer — includes a scene where an actor, played by Charlie Day, vigorously pantomimes masturbating in front of a female colleague. Following the _New York Times_ report, FX dumped Louis C.K. from all its shows, Netflix canceled an upcoming stand-up special featuring the comic, and HBO yanked all of Louis C.K.’s specials from its library. Louis C.K. was also fired as a voice actor on _The Secret Life of Pets 2_. “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,” Louis C.K. said in a statement last week after the _Times_ story broke. “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.” In addition to Oliver, other late-night hosts and shows have taken on the Louis C.K. story — including [_Saturday Night Live_](http://ew.com/tv/2017/11/12/colin-jost-sex-monsters-saturday-night-live/), [Stephen Colbert](http://ew.com/tv/2017/11/10/louis-c-k-roy-moore-sexual-misconduct-stephen-colbert-trevor-noah/), and Trevor Noah. _This_ [_article_](http://ew.com/tv/2017/11/13/john-oliver-louis-ck-last-week-tonight/) _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://www.ew.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5021309/john-oliver-louis-ck/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5021309/john-oliver-louis-ck/"},"headline":"'Completely Indefensible.' John Oliver Lays Into Louis C.K. 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