Stephen Colbert on His Former Boss Louis C.K.’s Sexual Harassment History: ‘I Didn’t Know’

Stephen Colbert has known Louis C.K. for decades, and even reported to him when C.K. was the head writer at 1996’s short-lived “The Dana Carvey Show.” Despite their professional interactions, Colbert got candid during a Dec. 2 discussion with Samantha Bee about how he had no idea that C.K. had a reputation for harassing women.

“I feel dumb,” Colbert said at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, at the seventh annual fundraiser for New Jersey non-profit Montclair Film (via our sister site Deadline). “I’m not surprised that men are bad but… I didn’t know about Louis C.K. I didn’t even know about Cosby! And that’s dumb.”

Bee said she is pleased that all of these sexual harassment scandals are now coming to light.

“It’s heartbreaking, but it’s not surprising probably to most women I know in the comedy community,” she said. “It’s definitely not surprising to any woman who lives on planet Earth. The speed and ferocity at which everything is coming forward at the moment is impressive to me, and I’m happy to be alive in this moment. In a moment where people are feeling freer with their stories and we don’t have to live with shame.”

Watch Colbert and C.K. together on “The Late Show” earlier this year: