Late night host Stephen Colbert took on Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore on Thursday night, slamming the evangelical Christian after four women came forward to allege he made sexual or romantic advances on them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s.
But Colbert dedicated significantly less time — and took on a softer tone — when he addressed new allegations of sexual misconduct waged against comedian Louis C.K., who was supposed to appear as a guest on the show last night. The cancellation came after a bombshell New York Times report put names and faces to swirling rumors that the comedian, whose real name is Louis Szekely, pressured many of his female colleagues to watch him masturbate at various times throughout his career.
These allegations against Szekely likely strike closer to Colbert’s heart than any of the others that have come out in recent weeks. As the Daily Beast notes, Szekely was Colbert’s boss on his very first TV gig in 1996; the two have known each other and worked together for decades. It’s also worth noting that it’s impossible to say whether Colbert would have addressed the controversy at all if Szekely’s appearance hadn’t been canceled — many of his late-night colleagues, including Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon, declined to comment on the allegations at all. Seth Meyers and Daily Show host Trevor Noah both had small bits about it, but for now, suffice it to say that Szekely has dodged late night’s skewer in a way others have not been allowed to.
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