Caroline Suh was once a huge fan of Louis CK, the comedian known for his semi-autobiographical sitcom, Louie, and a style of standup that explored his own worst impulses. Then, in 2017, the New York Times published allegations of sexual misconduct, specifically that he had masturbated in front of colleagues, which CK admitted was true. Suh, an American film-maker, says: “My immediate reaction was honestly, ‘Is it that bad?’ In my generation, when we were coming up, we saw a lot of bad behaviour and it was like, ‘That’s just the way it is.’”

Shortly afterwards, in a statement, CK said: “At the time, I said to myself that what I did was OK because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn’t a question. It’s a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly.”

When CK was dropped by Netflix, HBO and FX, he returned to standup within a few months. Meanwhile, the women who shared their experiences faced a vicious backlash – from fans, podcasters and comedians. In 2022, CK was awarded a Grammy for a standup special in which he recast his sexual misconduct as a fetish.

Suh analysed her own initial reaction and began to see it as outdated. But she wanted to explore where it came from, so teamed up with fellow film-maker Cara Mones to create a documentary focusing on the women who spoke out, asking wider questions about the nature of “open secrets” and how they’re dealt with in comedy. Mones initially worried about “giving CK a platform” but, by centring the women, she realised how little most people knew about the backlash they faced. “I hadn’t thought through what it would have meant to speak publicly about this.”

The resulting film, Sorry/Not Sorry, tells the story through testimonies from women who encountered CK, reporters who broke the story, and figures from the US comedy scene. It asks why women are punished for simply saying what happened to them. As New York Times reporter Cara Buckley says in the film: “If something horrible has happened to you, why should it continue to hurt you when you bring it to light?”

While the documentary comes several years after 2017’s #MeToo paradigm shift, these are still live issues, in the US, the UK and beyond. People currently working in comedy say sexual misconduct is still happening, while “open secrets” about individuals accused of sexual impropriety are widespread. In a 2019 survey of comedians by the union Equity, 28% said they had experienced inappropriate behaviour from a colleague. Get Off! Live Comedy was launched by UK comedians Nina Gilligan and Kiri Pritchard-Mclean in 2021 to tackle sexual harassment. Research they conducted in 2022 found that more than one in five workers in live comedy had observed or experienced sexual harassment, while 71% had been told about unwanted sexual behaviour.

One woman I have spoken to, who we will call Claire, seemed to sum up the situation. She worked throughout the UK comedy industry for 15 years and experienced an attempted sexual assault by a famous comedian. She has considered going public, but still feels it’s a risk having witnessed the online backlash others have faced. “Also,” she says, “you don’t know what avenues could suddenly close for you due to people higher up being friends with the individual.”

While Mones and Suh approached all of the women involved in the original NYT story, and “everyone” in the wider comedy world, few people wanted to appear on camera. “It’s a hard subject to talk about,” says Suh, “and the prevailing feeling is, ‘This can only hurt me.’”

Sorry/Not Sorry goes back to 2017, to examine the backlash that began then. “Doing our archival research,” says Mones, “seeing clip after clip of people tearing down these individuals, was pretty staggering.”

Writer Abby Schachner, who is central to both this film and the original NYT story after she was subjected to CK masturbating during a phone call, was criticised in a Netflix special by another comic, Dave Chappelle. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chappelle belittles her claim that CK’s behaviour deterred her from pursuing a career in comedy and then says: “Bitch, you don’t know how to hang up a phone? How the fuck are you going to survive in showbusiness if this is an actual obstacle to your dreams?”

So the question is always: why did the women react like that? It’s never: why did CK do what he did? “The outrageousness of what he did,” says Suh, “is totally lost in the discussion.”

Naturally, says Suh, there’s concern that any backlash could have a “quieting effect” on victims who have not yet spoken. The documentary probes the responsibility of bystanders to speak up too. Michael Schur, co-creator of Parks and Recreation, is interviewed in Sorry/Not Sorry. The hit comedy featured CK as a guest star, even after Schur had heard concerning rumours. “My attitude,” he says, “when I look back on it was, ‘It’s not my problem.’ The fact that I thought it wasn’t my problem is the problem.”

Schur and other interviewees acknowledge that CK’s behaviour was an open secret, talked about for years. Mones says of Schur’s remarks: “We all play a role that might not seem obvious to us at the time. With this film, you see how many people were part of the open secret. So what was it about the environment that allowed it to exist for so long?”

People fear losing work, being sued or accusing the wrong person. Lists of names and allegations circulate even now, but it’s hard to do anything with this. That is the feeling of another female comedian who spoke to me, who we will call Ella, and who has been in standup for over a decade. “We can refuse to be on the same line-ups or shows as them,” she says, “but if you keep doing that, you won’t have a career left. Because if you tell the producers why you won’t work with this person, you might get a phone call from their agent or lawyer the next day.”

Having allegations on the record, as in the case of CK, can solve some of these problems – as it forces the industry to act. But too often, audiences are used as an excuse: if demand still exists, despite allegations, then some in the industry will pander. The film-makers visited Madison Square Gardens on the night of a CK show to question fans. Some knew what he did and didn’t care, others felt it was an allowable hypocrisy, others still didn’t know the full story.

“We all play a role even if we’re not directly connected,” says Mones. Everyone has to draw their own line, adds Suh: “We’re not saying you’re not allowed to consume Louis’ work – but once you know the full story, I find it hard to find him as funny, personally.”

Claire knows exactly where that line is. “No one should have to work with them. Someone watching a Netflix special doesn’t have to work with this person.” She believes a high demand to bring someone like Louis CK back is a potential problem for performers and people behind the scenes who have complained about him.

The UK hasn’t had a comeback as high profile as CK’s yet, but Ella has this to say about lower-profile cases: “If the person is popular or famous or talented enough, it’s amazing what people are willing to ignore or forgive.”

In scenarios like these, those who’ve been subjected to allegations of misconduct are again overlooked. “The question of whose careers are we most interested in protecting remains,” says Mones. People often pay “lip service” in the aftermath of sexual misconduct revelations, she says. “Now where is the accountability?”

The only way “open secrets” can be confronted is, “If everybody worked together – venues, producers, agents,” says Claire. “There needs to be some kind of union.”

Gilligan says that while high-profile cases in the media generate interest in sexual misconduct in comedy, this attention is often short-lived, leaving victims and the industry itself at a loose end. “We need to improve and strengthen working legislation,” she says. “To prevent these cases getting to the point of national scandal.”

A spokesperson from Equity highlighted “unclear workplace policies on anti-harassment and late-night travel safety” as unresolved issues, and encouraged victims to report incidents to their union. Despite this, since 2017, there’s been “an overall positive change in the culture,” says Gilligan. “We are asking ourselves the difficult questions.”

Mones and Suh say while it’s vital to show the backlash women faced for speaking out about CK, it’s equally important to see his outing as a positive step. “We do still see stories being broken,” says Mones. “It does feel like there is momentum, despite days where it might feel like the backlash is very loud.”

Suh is hopeful that public knowledge of CK’s misconduct and stories about other comedians that followed since will make people less likely to cross boundaries with colleagues, as it could be them on the next front page. “I can’t say if it was worth it or not, because I’m not one of those women, but [speaking out] does make a difference,” says Suh. “He admitted everything in the article was true. Even though there was backlash, what they did was really important.”

• Sorry/Not Sorry is on streaming platforms.