Disgraced comedian Louis C.K. is making headlines again after he joked he would rather be at Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp where more than a million Jews were killed during World War II, than New York City. C.K. made the joke during a performance at a club outside Tel Aviv, Israel. C.K.’s career in Hollywood effectively came to an end in 2017 after he admitted to masturbating in front of women.
“I’d rather be in Auschwitz than New York City,” C.K. joked, reports the New York Daily News. “I mean now, not when it was open.”
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The audience reportedly clapped at the joke. C.K.’s paternal grandfather was Jewish.
More than 1.1 million Jews were killed at Auschwitz between 1940 and 1945, before the Soviet Union finally liberated the people there. Today, the site of the camp, is a museum and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Jan. 27, the anniversary of the liberation in 1945, is marked as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
C.K. also reportedly joked about the controversy that led to his downfall. He admitted masturbating in front of women was wrong, and does not recommend doing it now. “If they say ‘yes,’ then still don’t do it, because it’s not popular,” he said.
Back in 2017, the New York Times published allegations from five women who accused him of masturbating in front of them or over the phone while talking to him. He later send a statement to the Times confirming that the stories were true.
“At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my d— without asking first, which is also true,” C.K.’s statement read. “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.”
C.K.’s sitcom Louie was cancelled. Other projects, including a Netflix special and the release of his film I Love You Daddy, were also cancelled.
However, in recent months, he has controversially tried to stage a comeback, starting with new stand-up tour dates. He has more shows in Europe planned before he returns to the U.S. for a string of shows in Detroit, New Orleans, Houston and Akron, Ohio scheduled through February 2020.
C.K.’s jokes during his recent performances have only attracted more controversy. In August, he told a San Jose audience, “I like to jerk off, and I don’t like being alone.” During a December 2018 show, he mocked the survivors of the Parkland, Florida high school shooting.
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