Five women accuse comedian Louis C.K. of sexual misconduct, NYT report says

Comedian and actor Louis C.K. has been accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women in a New York Times report, making him the latest Hollywood celebrity to face years-old allegations of impropriety.

According the to Times piece, at least five women accuse the comedian of masturbating or attempting to masturbate in front of them against their wills — stories that in the past have been considered unsubstantiated rumors. Now, however, as the Times writes, "women are coming forward to describe what they experienced" amid a "burst of sexual misconduct accusations against powerful men."

The first incident discussed in the report dates back to 2002, when Chicago-based comedians Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov, were, at the time, performing at Aspen, Colo.'s US Comedy Arts Festival. C.K. allegedly masturbated in front of the two women in his hotel room against their wills.

"He proceeded to take all of his clothes off, and get completely naked, and started masturbating," Goodman tells the Times.

Similar accusations arose from comedian Rebecca Corry, who claims C.K. asked if he could masturbate in front of her in 2005, but she declined. Abby Schachner, meanwhile, alleges that C.K. masturbated during a phone conversation with her. A fifth woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Times that C.K. repeatedly asked her to watch him masturbate while she worked in production on The Chris Rock Show in the late 1990s.

C.K.'s publicist, Lewis Kay, told the Times that the comedian wouldn't respond to the allegations made in article or provide a statement to the publication. However, the article reportedly caused the cancellation of a New York film premiere for C.K.'s latest movie, I Love You, Daddy, as well as a scheduled appearance on CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

I Love You, Daddy is still scheduled to open in Philadelphia on Nov. 22.