Sorry Not Sorry proves that if you’re a white dude with power, you’re never really canceled.
“Open secret” is a common phrase in Hollywood. From Ozempic running rampant to covering for Harvey Weinstein, open secrets are bolstered by the systems in place to protect people at the top.
Sorry/Not Sorry, from directors Cara Mones and Caroline Suh, examines how comedian Louis C.K. went from auteur comedic genius, across multiple streaming and traditional networks (we really did let him do whatever he wanted — remember Horace and Pete?), to problematic auteur comedic genius, as today he continues to do whatever he wants, this time on his own terms. Given that no network will touch C.K., he’s found an interesting independent niche by removing the middlemen, catering straight to his fans on his website and digital platform. In the coming years, don’t be surprised if he gains back that $35 million he claims to have lost in a day.
But what’s most illuminating about this documentary isn’t what C.K. did—which is both disgusting and degrading to the victims and himself—but what people around him didn’t do. It’s one thing to hear a rumor and not know what to do with that piece of information, but one wishes the documentary would have delved more deeply into the comedians and C.K. cronies who knew and how they played defense for him (did the first whistleblowers Dana Goodman and Julia Wolov get turned away from specific projects because of their experience? The doc surmises they could have). The best example of the consequences of C.K.’s actions comes from comedian Jen Kirkman, who turned down an opening gig with him out of fear that he would come on to her sexually and make it an uncomfortable tour.
The bright light in the doc is Abby Schachner, the comedienne who describes the phone call with C.K. masturbating on the other line and the embarrassment from being known for this incident (Dave Chappelle said she had “brittle-ass spirit” in one of his stand-up specials). Like writer/comedian Megan Koester (who got reamed at by an exec at the Just for Laughs Festival for asking questions about C.K.), much of the career setbacks for Schachner weren’t due to her experience with Louie but with the system set up against her, the same one that impacts women in male-dominated industries every day. Despite this experience and the blowback from the New York Times article, Schachner has gotten back into comedy, and like C.K., also on her own terms.
The film is now available nationally on VOD in addition to select theaters in LA and NY.
