On the most recent episode of Saturday Night Live, host Louis CK starred in a sketch called “Birthday Clown,” in which a depressed Louis (“Ernest” in the sketch) orders a clown to his home, just for himself. But that same concept has already been done—by fellow comedian Tig Notaro, in her short film Clown Service, which continues to screen across the country as a part of her national tour. 
 
 “I’m feeling kinda sad and I thought maybe I’d have a clown come over,” Notaro says in the first few seconds of her film. 
 
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 “Just start the show, I gotta take my mind off some stuff,” Louis says in the SNL sketch, in an attempt to get the clown to perform a show for one. 
 
 See them for yourself: 
 
 Both sketches have notably similar plots (clowns come over to perform a show for one depressed person sitting on a couch), and they only differ slightly in tone and ending: Notaro’s film is uplifting and clever, while the SNL sketch is darker and more simplistic. The comedy community is quite small, and it’s true that the two comics once had at least some sort of professional relationship—Louis CK hosted Notaro’s standup show on his website in 2012; he’s also an executive producer on her show One Mississippi. 
 
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 And, for what it’s worth, Notaro is having a hard time believing that it was just a coincidence. She called the sketch “extremely disappointing” in a statement provided to Entertainment Weekly: 
 
 It has been impossible for me to ignore the cacophony of voices reaching out personally and publicly about the potential plagiarizing of my film Clown Service (a film that I screened at Largo in Los Angeles for over a year and it premiered at Vulture’s Comedy Festival in NYC as well as numerous film festivals around the country and I am currently screening on my national tour). While I don’t know how all this actually happened, I did find it extremely disappointing. Here is what I can tell you: First off, I have recently learned that a writer/director who was fully aware of Clown Service when I was making it, actually worked on Louis C.K.’s clown sketch that is in question. Secondly, Louis C.K. and I have not communicated in any way for nearly a year and a half. And finally, I never gave anyone permission to use anything from my film. I hesitated to even address any of this, but I think it is only right to defend my work and ideas and moving forward, I plan to continue screening Clown Service with the joy and pride I always have. 
 
 Neither Louis CK’s or SNL’s reps responded to Jezebel’s request for comment. ||||| Tig Notaro is speaking out about Louis C.K.’s Saturday Night Live short “Birthday Clown,” which has been criticized for bearing a strong resemblance to Notaro’s short film Clown Service. 
 
 In a statement provided exclusively to EW, Notaro says she found the sketch “extremely disappointing.” Notaro claims she learned that a “writer/director,” who she says was fully aware of Clown Service, also worked on the C.K. short. Though Notaro and C.K. have worked together in the past, she says the two of them “have not communicated in any way for nearly a year and a half.” 
 
 Both “Birthday Clown” and Clown Service focus on depressed characters (played by C.K. and Notaro, respectively) ordering a clown to their house to cheer them up. Although the results are slightly different (Notaro’s has a happy ending, while C.K.’s ends with a very dark joke), they contain strong similarities. C.K. previously posted Notaro’s acclaimed 2012 standup set, Live, on his website, and is listed as an executive producer for her show One Mississippi. 
 
 See both performances in the videos above, and read Notaro’s full statement below. Representatives for SNL and C.K. did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 
 
 “It has been impossible for me to ignore the cacophony of voices reaching out personally and publicly about the potential plagiarizing of my film Clown Service (a film that I screened at Largo in Los Angeles for over a year and it premiered at Vulture’s Comedy Festival in NYC as well as numerous film festivals around the country and I am currently screening on my national tour). 
 
 While I don’t know how all this actually happened, I did find it extremely disappointing. 
 
 Here is what I can tell you: 
 
 First off, I have recently learned that a writer/director who was fully aware of Clown Service when I was making it, actually worked on Louis C.K.’s clown sketch that is in question. 
 
 Secondly, Louis C.K. and I have not communicated in any way for nearly a year and a half. 
 
 And finally, I never gave anyone permission to use anything from my film. 
 
 I hesitated to even address any of this, but I think it is only right to defend my work and ideas and moving forward, I plan to continue screening Clown Service with the joy and pride I always have.“ ||||| FX Networks responded Thursday to allegations against comic Louis C.K., saying that reports of inappropriate sexual behavior are “under review.” 
 
 “We are obviously very troubled by the allegations about Louis C.K. published in The New York Times today,” FX said in a statement. “The network has received no allegations of misconduct by Louis C.K. related to any of our 5 shows produced together over the past 8 years. FX Networks and FXP take all necessary actions to protect our employees and thoroughly investigate any allegations of misconduct within our workplace. That said, the matter is currently under review.” 
 
 In a New York Times story published Thursday, five women accused C.K. of masturbating in front of them or asking to masturbate in front of them. The report elevated lonsgstanding rumors that C.K. had a reputation for forcing or coercing women in the comedy world to watch him masturbate, often without their consent. 
 
 FX has a deep working relationship with C.K. and his Pig Newton production shingle. In addition to C.K.’s Emmy-winning comedy series “Louie,” the comic, through Pig Newton, produces multiple series for FX, including Zach Galifianakis’ “Baskets,” Pamela Adlon’s “Better Things,” and Tig Notaro’s “One Mississippi,” the last of which FX Productions produces for Amazon. 
 
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 Notaro told The Daily Beast in August hat C.K. is not directly involved with the series, and said that he needed to address the rumors of sexual harassment. 
 
 “I think it’s important to take care of that, to handle that, because it’s serious to be assaulted,” she said. “It’s serious to be harassed. It’s serious, it’s serious, it’s serious. And that’s what we want to do with [‘One Mississippi]. We of course want to create comedy, but we also really, really feel like we have the opportunity to do something with ‘One Mississippi,’ because it does not stop. And, you know, I walk around doing shows at comedy clubs and you just hear from people left and right of what some big-shot comedian or person has done. People just excuse it.” 
 
 In one scene from season 2 of “One Mississippi,” a female character is forced to watch as a male workplace superior masturbates. 
 
 FX has never closed the door on a sixth season of “Louie,” adopting the stance that the network would move ahead with another season when and if the star and creator wanted to. But speaking at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour in August, FX CEO John Landgraf cast doubt on prospects for a sixth season. 
 
 “I really don’t have any update on Season 6,” Landgraf said. “As I’ve said, I think it’s possible there will never be another season of ‘Louie.’ And I think it’s also possible there will be four or five more seasons of ‘Louie’ over the next 30 years.” 
 
 Landgraf continued, “I think that Louis, he’s been very, very active in his overall deal with us. He now has four series he’s executive producing, from ‘Baskets’ and ‘Better Things’ for us, to ‘One Mississippi’ through FXP for Amazon, and ‘The Cops’ through FXP or I guess FXP is a passive, secondary participant with TBS on that. And you saw what he did with ‘Horace and Pete.’ He just did a new standup special. And he has other things that I’m aware of, that he hasn’t announced publicly that he’s working on.” ||||| On last night’s episode of Louie, it’s Louie’s daughter’s birthday, so he gives her tickets to some make-believe bubble gum pop star’s concert, but it turns out his daughter prefers Lady Gaga. So Louie talks to his agent (played perfectly by a 9-year-old) to see if there’s a way to get tickets to see Lady Gaga, but the only comedian who shares her promotion company is Dane Cook. Wanting so badly to please his daughter, Louie goes to Madison Square Garden (or whatever) and visits him backstage. And what follows is the scene that I have posted after the jump, and it is amazing. (You almost certainly know the history behind this scene, but Dane Cook has very famously been accused of stealing Louis C.K.’s material.) First of all, it’s just a very good scene. It’s funny and well done and it makes for a good TV show. Second of all, it is important. For real. Not only is this one of the more interesting things to happen on television in a long time, but it has a lot of really important things to say about the way that we lead our lives that people do not really talk about very much even just in the world much less on a basic cable sitcom. Let’s watch the scene (again) and then let us unpack it, yes? Sure! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Man. OK, so, first of all, congratulations to everyone involved on this. I am not a Dane Cook fan personally but he gets Big Points for this. Yes, it allows him to tell his side of the story, which he has never really done before (unless he did it on Marc Maron’s podcast or something, but that episode was before my time and I do not pay for podcasts, no offense podcasts none taken) and he comes off looking much better for it, but somehow the scene is impressively generous to BOTH of these dudes. They both seem reliable and decent and it doesn’t feel like any sacrifices were made in order to score a “television event.” (Also, let’s keep this in perspective. The number of people who actually care about the Louis C.K. vs. Dane Cook thing could probably fit inside of a gas station.) The jokes that Louis pokes at Dane about the way he says 2006 or his Time magazine cover are funny but they are also gentle. No one is getting away with any secret cruelty. The scene does not play out at anyone else’s expense. It really is as open and honest of a thing as scripted television can be. 
 
 None of that, of course, explains why this scene might be IMPORTANT. So here is why: in the end, this is not a scene about Louis C.K. and Dane Cook talking about joke stealing, this is a scene about forgiveness, acceptance, self-examination, fatherhood, fame, courage, honesty, and mortality. That’s a lot! Those are REALLY important things! What this scene says, at least I think, is that no matter what other people do in life, you need to be responsible for your own behavior. There are people in this world who are victims of terrible crimes, that is not what we are talking about here. This is about confronting and acknowledging the thousand cuts that we are constantly exchanging on the way to our mutually assured destruction. As often as not, our reaction to being injured is to injure others, and ultimately that is wrong. That is a losing scenario for everyone involved. Of course, what makes this scene even more interesting is a momentary consideration of the history leading up to it. Not just the “Dane Cook is a joke thief” thing, but the fact that is ultimately ancient herstory at this point, and that Louis C.K. continued to press on and do his job, and he now has a successful television show and sells out Carnegie Hall. He is, by all accounts, hugely successful in his own right. This doesn’t diminish what Dane may or may not have done (and I think the itchy asshole moment in this scene is one of the better descriptions of the ways in which sometimes people do just get the same ideas about things because no duh) but it does suggest that at the end of the day everyone needs to just keep going, and if you wallow in self-pity or you focus on negative things that might slow you down you will never get to confront your own Dane Cook on your own FX show. You know what I mean. 
 
 It would be grandiose to suggest that anyone should take any serious life lesson from a scene in which two comedians hash out their professional grievances on a TV show, but I do think that it’s at least a welcome reminder that there are more important things in life than, well, just about everything we spend our time worrying about. It just doesn’t matter that much! When all is said and done, whatever you are concerned with and obsessing about today will be completely unimportant when it comes time to give your daughter a meaningful gift on her 10th birthday. When all is said and done, you will be dead. 
 
 So there’s that. ||||| UPDATED throughout: Louis C.K. has lost his longtime manager, 3 Arts Entertainment’s Dave Becky, publicist Lewis Kay as well as APA Agency, which had repped his successful comedy touring business, in the wake of the sexual misconduct allegations against him that he confirmed today. 
 
 “We have terminated our relationship with Louis C.K.,” 3 Arts Management said in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring a safe and secure environment for our staff, clients and the community at large. We are doing a full internal review regarding this situation and are taking additional steps to strengthen our processes and procedures while engaging with our staff to address any concerns about harassment or abuse of power. This behavior is totally unacceptable in all circumstances and must be confronted and addressed.” 
 
 C.K.’s publicist Kovert Creative confirmed that the agency was no longer representing the Emmy winner. His former rep Lewis Kay also tweeted he was dropping the actor. 
 
 As of today, I no longer represent Louis C.K. — Lewis Kay (@lewiskay) November 10, 2017 
 
 APA did not issue a statement but confirmed to Deadline that they no longer rep C.K., the first comedian to sell out Madison Square Garden three times for the same tour. 
 
 The announcements came just hours after C.K. issued a statement in response to the sexual misconduct claims against him. In that statement, C.K. said “the stories are true” and that he wielded the power he had “irresponsibly.” In the statement he also apologized to his now-former 3 Arts manager, who had been featured in the NYT story, saying, “I deeply regret that this has brought negative attention to my manager Dave Becky who only tried to mediate a situation that I caused.” 
 
 There is a lot at stake for 3 Arts, a comedy powerhouse, and Becky, a top comedy manager/producer whose list of longtime clients also includes Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari and Amy Poehler. 
 
 This all followed Thursday’s blistering New York Times exposé on C.K. Since then, the Orchard pulled the release of C.K.’s film I Love You, Daddy which premiered at TIFF and which they spent a reported $5M to acquire. The pic’s premiere was, of course, canceled yesterday as well. HBO pulled C.K. from its November 18 special Night of Too Many Stars, and the pay TV network also pulled all of the comedian’s content from their HBO On-Demand service. Netflix opted not to move ahead with a second C.K. stand-up special it was producing, but the comedian’s existing specials on Netflix, 2017 as well as 2015’s Live at the Comedy Store, which Netflix picked up in August, will remain on the streaming service. 
 
 FX, C.K.’s home for the past eight years, also released a statement Friday that FX Networks and FX Productions have cut ties with C.K. and ended an overall deal with his Pig Newton productions. He no longer will serve as executive producer or receive compensation on any of the four shows we were producing with him: Better Things, Baskets, One Mississippi and The Cops. 
 
 Meanwhile, TBS said today that has suspended production on The Cops, the animated series C.K. co-created with Albert Brooks. 
 
 C.K. is a six-time Emmy winner across his FX series Louie as well as a number of stand-up specials and writing on The Chris Rock Show.
– Saturday Night Live ran a funny sketch in its last show in which Louis CK plays a down-in-the-dumps guy who hires a clown to put on a show solely for him. One person not laughing is fellow comedian Tig Notaro—because she used the premise first in her short film Clown Service. You can see the SNL sketch here and Notaro's 13-minute video here. "While I don’t know how all this actually happened, I did find it extremely disappointing," says Notaro in a statement released to Entertainment Weekly. She doesn't appear to be blaming Louis CK, saying that a "writer/director" who was aware of Clown Service—it's been out for a year and is currently part of her national tour—worked on the SNL sketch. "I never gave anyone permission to use anything from my film," says Notaro. While she and Louis CK have long ties—he hosted her standup on his website and is an executive producer of her show One Mississippi, notes Jezebel—she says they have not communicated in any way in more than a year. "I hesitated to even address any of this, but I think it is only right to defend my work," she writes. No word yet from Louis CK, who was in a famous tiff with comedian Dane Cook over alleged plagiarism years ago. After Cook was accused of stealing Louis CK's material, the incident made it into an episode of his show Louie.