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Louis C.K. accuser says his behavior was ‘common knowledge’

Rebecca Corry, one of the five women who accused Louis C.K. of sexual misconduct in a bombshell New York Times piece, says the comedian’s predatory behavior was “common knowledge” and a frequent source of comedy itself.
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One of the five women who accused Louis C.K. of sexual misconduct in a bombshell New York Times piece says the comedian’s predatory behavior was “common knowledge” and a frequent source of comedy itself. File photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rebecca Corry, one of the five women who accused Louis C.K. of sexual misconduct in a bombshell New York Times piece, says the comedian’s predatory behavior was “common knowledge” and a frequent source of comedy itself.

Corry spoke about her experience with the disgraced comedian Monday on “Good Morning America,” and said that C.K.’s inappropriate actions — like forcing women to watch him masturbate — were not only known, but accepted by the comedy world for a long time.

“It was just actually sort of common knowledge in the comedy world. People made jokes about it all the time,” she said.

The comedian recalled her encounter with C.K., which occurred in 2005 when she was working on a TV pilot.

“I was walking to set to shoot my scene and he approached me and got really close to my face and said, ‘Can I ask you something?’ And I said yes. And he said, ‘Can I masturbate in front of you in your dressing room?’” Corry said, recounting the same story she told the New York Times.

She says she didn’t speak up at the time — though producers Courteney Cox and David Arquette asked if she felt comfortable continuing with the show — because she didn’t want the burden of being the one who put an end to production.

“Those opportunities are few and far between; I most certainly didn’t want to be the person that was responsible for shutting down a production or even being part of the narrative,” she said. “If I could do anything differently it would be that day I would’ve shut down production. I would’ve confronted it and I would’ve deal with it then. ‘Cause I have learned that doing nothing, saying nothing, is not helpful.”

She added that C.K. called her two years ago to apologize, but said he was sorry for forcing her into a closet — an incident she assumes must have happened with another woman who he then mixed up with her.

Corry’s claim that C.K.’s behavior was an open secret was also echoed by comedian Marc Maron, who said on his podcast Monday that he confronted C.K. over the longstanding rumors — and was lied to.

“Sadly, I knew what most people knew. There was a story out there, I guess going back several years, there were unnamed people in the story, it took place in a hotel room in Aspen. It was always out there, but then it would pick up momentum at different times,” he said.

“And I would ask (C.K.) about it. I would say, ‘This story about you forcing these women to watch you jerk off, what is that, is that true?’ He goes, ‘No, that’s not true. It’s not real. It’s a rumor.’ And I would say, ‘Well, are you going to address it somehow? Handle it? Get out from under it whenever it shows up?’ ‘No, I can’t, I can’t do that. I can’t give it life, give it air.’ That was the conversation.”

Corry and the four other women’s allegations were published Thursday, and led to swift backlash for C.K.

The “Louie” star was quickly dropped by FX, HBO and Netflix.

He admitted the allegations against him were true in a statement Friday.

“At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my d — k without asking first,” he said. “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 — k isn’t a question. It’s a predicament for them.”