Hard to believe but there was a time not so terribly long ago that Louis C. K. was viewed as a daring, cutting edge comedian whose act was considered quite daring and at times “true to life”… except, of course, when it turned out it was a little too close to his “real life”, which consisted of some pretty icky sexual predilections.

Once revealed, Louis C. K. became another of those faces of sexual harassment, a man who had masturbated in front of women, and -at least somewhat to his credit- he admitted to the fact and, like others exposed, issued an apology and to date disappeared from sight.

What was left in the flotsam was the fate of his just about to be released film, I Love You Daddy, which, given the revelations against Mr. C. K., suddenly is a film that took on too strong a “realistic” sheen (Dana Stevens, an admitted now ex-fan of Mr. C. K., reviewed the film here and noted how based on the revelations against him, she has found herself re-assessing the things he did on TV and standup and things that might have been funny before became far more sinister).

Anyway, Mr. C. K. has, according to this article by Anthony D’Alessandro over at Deadline.com, bought back the full rights to that film from the studio that was to release it:

Louis C. K. Buying Back I Love You, Daddy Following Scandal

There is speculation regarding Mr. C. K.’s motives for doing this.  Will he release this movie through his website?  Could there be enough money to be made on this now controversial film?

I wonder if there is an even more intimate reason: As an artist, one wants to “own” one’s work.  They’re your babies and owning them is something every artist wants… for better or worse.

I was never a fan of Louis C. K., but that’s due to ignorance and nothing more: I’ve never seen him either on his TV series, stand-up, or otherwise, and therefore have no opinion on his talent(s).

Yet I’m curious… if he does release the film on his own, how will it do?  Will he ever find redemption among the public?

Or is his career, as it appears at this moment, essentially done?