Comedy clubs are grappling with how to handle Louis CK and other abusive comedians -- Comedy Cellar owner is taking the "ACLU approach"

The Washington Post

“I think too many people are interpreting it as a reflection of how we feel or don’t feel about what Louis was accused of, or admitted to doing. It’s not really about that,” Noam Dworman said of the backlash to his club allowing Louis CK to perform Sunday night. “It’s more of an ACLU approach, which I’ve always had, which is to say that we’re a platform for comedy, that handing out punishments is something that institutions of courts of law do.” For Marshall Chiles, owner of Atlanta’s Laughing Skull Lounge and Laughing Skull Comedy Festival, the question is whether a comedian like Louis CK is doing "hate speech" or doing "an amazing 15-minute bit of the errors of his ways." Chiles said he'd never tell a comic what to say onstage, but “there is a responsibility of some sense. If you got a platform, a comedy club pulling 1,000 people a week, you have a responsibility that what’s onstage is not hurting society.” As for CK, Chiles says, “if he hadn’t apologized, and he was trying to fight it or justify it, I would not be tolerant of him onstage. The fact that he handled it the way he did, I believe in giving people second chances. I’ve made mistakes.” ALSO: Dworman points to Bill Clinton and Mike Tyson still having platforms, but admits the "ambush thing" is a problem.