Patton Oswalt Replaces Louis C.K. in Voicing ‘Secret Life of Pets’ Character

Comedian Patton Oswalt has replaced Louis C.K. as the voice of Secret Life of Pets character Max in the film’s sequel.

As heard in the film’s trailer, Oswalt is voicing Max in the upcoming The Secret Life of Pets 2, who C.K. originally voiced in the 2016 film, The Secret Life of Pets.

Oswalt joins returning voice stars Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Ellie Kemper, Bobby Moynihan, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress and Jenny Slate. The film will also feature other newcomers such as Tiffany Haddish, Nick Kroll, Harrison Ford and Pete Holmes.

While Universal Pictures — the film’s producing studio — does not appear to have commented on the voice acting change, the move likely stems from C.K.’s confession to committing sexual assault.

In November 2017, allegations emerged that C.K. had assaulted multiple women by masturbating in front of them or on the phone with them.

Following the allegations leading to C.K. losing partnerships with HBO, Netflix, and FX, he released a statement confirming that the allegations were true.

“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,” his statement began.

“These stories are 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. went on to say. “But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your d— 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 then added that he was “remorseful” for his actions, and that he has tried to both “tried to learn from them” and “run from them.”

“Now I’m aware of the extent of the impact of my actions,” C.K. continued. “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,” he also said. “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,” C.K. finally admitted. “Which is nothing compared to the task I left them with.”

The Secret Life of Pets 2 will open in theaters on June 7, 2019.