Louis CK has been fired from The Secret Life Of Pets 2 following his admission of sexual misconduct.
An article published by the New York Times earlier this week (November 9) shone a light on claims from five women – all of whom have worked with the comedian in some capacity – about alleged inappropriate behaviour by CK. The claims included CK allegedly masturbating in front of female comedians.
After initially declining to comment, CK issued a public statement yesterday (November 10), saying that the “stories are true” and that he has “been remorseful of my actions”.
As The Hollywood Reporter notes, Universal and Illumination Animation announced that CK would not feature in the forthcoming sequel, which is due for release in June 2019. The comedian voiced the character of Max the dog in the original movie.
“Universal Pictures and Illumination have terminated their relationship with Louis CK on The Secret Life Of Pets 2,” the two companies said in a statement.
The move follows the news that the release of CK’s upcoming movie I Love You, Daddy has been cancelled, while HBO, Netflix and FX have also cut ties with the star. TBS have also announced CK’s animated series The Cops would be “suspended until further review”.
In his apology statement, the comedian said he had “tried to learn from” his actions, as well as “run from them”. “Now I’m aware of the extent of the impact of my actions,” he said. “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.”