Sarah Silverman is "very angry and also sad" at the sexual harassment allegations surrounding her close friend Louis C.K.
The 50-year-old comedian has been faced with several allegations of sexual misconduct involving exposing himself and masturbating in front of several women, and in a statement released last week, he admitted the claims were true.
Now, his longtime friend and actress Sarah, 46, has broken her silence on the subject, saying it has been a "mind f**k" for her because whilst she is "angry" on behalf of his victims, she is also "sad" that it is her friend who is caught up in the scandal.
Speaking during a preview for her Hulu show ‘I Love You, America’, she said: "One of my best friends of over 25 years, Louis C.K., masturbated in front of women. He wielded his power with women in f***ed up ways, sometimes to the point where they left comedy entirely. I could couch this with heartwarming stories of our friendship and what a great dad he is, but that’s totally irrelevant, isn’t it? Yes, it is. It’s a real mind f**k, you know, because I love Louis. But Louis did these things. Both of those statements are true. So I just keep asking myself, ‘Can you love someone who did bad things? Can you still love them?’
"I can mull that over later certainly, because the only people that matter right now are the victims. They are victims, and they are victims because of something he did. So I hope it’s OK if I am, at once, very angry for the women he wronged and the culture that enabled it, and also sad, because he’s my friend. But I believe with all my heart that this moment in time is essential. It’s vital that people are held accountable for their actions, no matter who they are. We need to be better. We will be better. I can’t f***ing wait to be better."
Sarah’s comments come after Louis admitted that the allegations against him were true, but believed at the time his actions were okay because he’d asked for permission first.
He said: "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, which is also true. 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."