The staying power of a #MeToo accusation: 5 powerful men who survived 'cancel culture's' supposed death blow

Perhaps the quintessential example of a successful #MeToo comeback, Louis C.K. 's journey from beloved comic to industry pariah back to 2022 Grammy winner highlights the combined power of a well-worded apology, a strategic step-back from the limelight, and a dedicated fanbase.

Rumors had dogged the comedian for years, but in November 2017, five women publicly accused C.K. of sexual misconduct in a New York Times investigation, saying he used his influence in the industry to take advantage of them. All five alleged that C.K. asked them or forced them to watch him masturbate, with accounts spanning from the mid-1990s to 2005.

Like many of the men embroiled in the initial wave of #MeToo allegations, there was a flurry of immediate repercussions for the comedian:

• HBO stripped his inclusion from a forthcoming Jon Stewart special.
• HBO removed his comedy specials from the streamer.
• Netflix said it would stop production on his next planned stand-up special.
• FX, which had a longstanding relationship with C.K. as host to his TV show "Louie," also cut ties with the comedian and said they would no longer work with him or his production company.
• A distribution company canceled the release of his film "I Love you Daddy," which was set to open just days after the allegations were made.

C.K. acknowledged his culpability in a lengthy apology statement, saying he planned to "step back and take a long time to listen."

But less than a year later, he made his quiet return to live stand-up in August 2018 with a surprise set at a New York City comedy club. Reports from the event offered a preview into C.K.'s impending path to redemption: The audience that night gave him an ovation before he even began speaking.

In December 2018, audio from one of his comeback sets leaked. In it, he mocked the Parkland high school shooting survivors, gender pronouns, and referenced his own #MeToo scandal.

In April 2020, fewer than three years after the Times story, C.K. released his first official stand-up special in which he discussed the allegations yet again. "Sincerely Louis C.K." remains available for purchase on his website. In August 2021 he announced his first major tour since the scandal and released a second stand-up special notably called "Sorry."

Then, in April 2022, he was rewarded by his industry peers for his recent professional accomplishments with a Grammy for best comedy album for "Sincerely Louis C.K." — a show featuring jokes about "being canceled."

Representatives for C.K. did not return Insider's request for comment on the trajectory of his career in the aftermath of the allegations.

The comic is next set to perform at Madison Square Garden next year.

Animation legend John Lasseter's post-#MeToo comeback highlights another example of a short-lived ostracism for a powerful Hollywood player in the wake of misconduct allegations.

The chief creative officer at both Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios, Lasseter was the creative mind behind animated hits like "Cars," "Toy Story," and "A Bug's Life." The Pixar studios co-founder was well-known in the industry for being a particularly "friendly" person, often greeting employees with bear hugs and kisses, no matter their professional relationship to him.

But as the #MeToo movement gained momentum, several sources at Pixar and within the animation industry told The Hollywood Reporter in November 2017 that Lasseter was known for "grabbing, kissing, and making comments about physical attributes" in meetings, parties, and at work events. The allegations of unwanted touching and hugging at work prompted him to take a "leave of absence," as the company decided his fate.

The self-described "Peter Pan" was ultimately forced to resign from the Walt Disney company in June 2018 following the accusations.

Lasseter's tale highlights how the conversation around #MeToo became more complex and nuanced as time went on.

While many praised Pixar employees' bravery for speaking out about Lasseter's alleged pattern of inappropriate behavior, others argued that the accusations against Lasseter didn't rise to the same level as the rape and assault allegations plaguing other Hollywood executives, and thus his punishment — professionally and socially — shouldn't be as severe.

Still, Lasseter was met with a wave of repercussions following the Hollywood Reporter article ahead of his departure:

• He skipped the 2018 Oscars where Pixar's "Coco" won the award for best animated film.
• He skipped the premiere for Pixar's "Incredibles 2."
• He took a leave of absence, during which the company held a "day of listening" where several staffers said Lasseter often spoke to them in a domineering tone.
• #LoseLasseter trended on Twitter.

But just one year after departing Disney, Lasseter landed a new role at Skydance Media as the company's animation chief.

The production company helmed by David Ellison, who has produced multiple "Mission: Impossible" movies, announced Lasseter's hire in a carefully-worded, January 2019 memo to Skydance staff, highlighting Lasseter's prior acknowledgment and apology for his past "mistakes." The statement said Lasseter had spent his time away from the workplace "analyzing and improving his workplace behavior."

The move prompted some brief backlash in the industry, but the buzz quickly faded, leaving Lasseter in a powerful position with nearly the same creative control he had held prior to #MeToo. He most recently served as executive producer for 2022's "Luck" starring Jane Fonda and Whoopi Goldberg.

Lasseter did not respond to Insider's request for comment, nor did a representative for Skydance Media.

Accused by 26 women of sexual misconduct — allegations ranging from unwanted touching to assault — former President Donald Trump's story is unique in many ways.

The majority of accusations leveled against him were made prior to or during his first run for the White House before the #MeToo movement began in full, with some dating as far back as the 1970s.

A flood of women went public with their accusations following the October 2016 publication of the "Access Hollywood" tape, in which Trump was caught bragging about grabbing women's genitals in 2005.

But the mounting list of allegations didn't stop Trump from seizing the presidency in 2016, nor from securing his party's nomination again in 2020.

Trump and his team have repeatedly denied all of the allegations against him, offering specific denials in certain cases, and at other times, issuing sweeping statements rejecting the lot of them.

Representatives for the former president did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

Several of the allegations stemmed from Trump's years as owner of the Miss Universe Organization. Multiple former beauty queens said he touched, kissed, or groped them, as well as walked into their dressing rooms while they were naked.

Trump sidestepped the growing list of accusers, securing the presidency in November 2016, despite the allegations hanging over his head. But two years into his presidency, another accuser came forward with one of the most serious allegations yet. E. Jean Carroll, a writer and columnist, said he sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in 1996.

Trump denied the accusation.

Carroll is currently suing Trump for defamation and announced last month that she plans to file a new suit for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress tied to the 1996 incident under a New York law that opens up the statute of limitations in abuse cases.

But when it comes to the consequences of the #MeToo era, Trump is Teflon. His career was not derailed by any of the misconduct allegations against him. Rather, his popularity seemingly flourished in spite of the allegations: He secured more than 74 million votes in 2020, including nearly 45% of all female voters.

He continues to tease a 2024 run.

Like the president who appointed him, Justice Brett Kavanaugh suffered relatively few, if any, consequences from accusations.

The now-Supreme Court justice, in the fall of 2018, was hit with a series of sexual misconduct allegations at a particularly inopportune time — just days before his confirmation hearing for a seat on the nation's top court. But neither the timing nor serious nature of the primary accusation stopped him from securing the coveted role.

The October 2018 hearing put sexual assault allegations back in the spotlight almost exactly a year after the #MeToo momentum began. Two women accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct at parties in high school and college, and a third woman, Julie Swetnick alleged that Kavanaugh was present at 1980s parties where she said she and other women were gang raped.

NBC News correspondent Kate Snow later interviewed Swetnick, who was represented by now-disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti, and said some of her comments during the conversation differed from her sworn statement on the matter.

An anonymous fourth allegation also surfaced in a letter to Congress.

Kavanaugh's primary accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, alleged that he had drunkenly forced himself on her and groped her during a high school party. She testified publicly at his hearing, offering disturbing details about the alleged incident.

He repeatedly denied the accusations, delivering a tearful defense during his confirmation hearing.

The proceeding hearkened back to a past SCOTUS confirmation hearing in which Anita Hill accused Justice Clarence Thomas of workplace sexual harassment in October 1991, highlighting how little had seemingly changed in the intervening years.

Kavanaugh was ultimately confirmed to the court by 50 votes. Blasey Ford, meanwhile, received months of threats following her testimony. She had to hire a security detail, move out of her home for a period of time, and take a leave from work because of the rampant abuse.

A representative for the Supreme Court did not respond to Insider's request for comment on the allegations against Kavanaugh.

Actor Johnny Depp's defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard earlier this year captivated the nation in one of the #MeToo movement's most recent — and complex — cases. The publicity spectacle raised difficult questions about the limits of #MeToo and ushered in a new era of the movement.

The massive 2022 lawsuit that prompted the trial dealt with defamation allegations between the divorced couple, but at the heart of the case were Heard's allegations of sexual and domestic violence against Depp throughout their marriage. Depp repeatedly denied the accusations, and in turn, accused Heard of domestic violence in a trial that laid bare the disturbing details of the couple's troubled marriage.

The US trial was a second go-around for Depp, who sued The Sun in a British court in 2020 over the outlet's description of him as a "wife beater." The judge in that case found the tabloid's characterization to be "substantially true."

But that trial's finding seemed long forgotten by the time the 2022 lawsuit played out in front of millions of people.

Depp's motivating argument throughout the trial was that Heard's allegations — originally published in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed about domestic violence — had essentially left him "canceled" and ruined his career.

It's true, in part. Depp did suffer some notable consequences in the immediate aftermath of Heard's op-ed:

• Disney canceled its sixth installment of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise which was helmed by Depp for years.
• Depp's manager during the trial said he lost out on $22.5 million as a result.
• Depp said he was also "forced" to leave Warner Brothers' "Fantastic Beasts" franchise.

Depp even invoked the #MeToo movement in discussing his troubles in a 2021 speech lambasting "cancel culture."

"It's so far out of hand now that I can promise you that no one is safe. Not one of you. No one out that door. No one is safe. It takes one sentence and there's no more ground, the carpet has been pulled. It's not just me that this has happened to, it's happened to a lot of people," he said at the 2021 San Sebastian Film Festival.

Representatives for the actor did not respond to Insider's request for comment for this story.

But in the end, Depp almost certainly came out on top.

In addition to his online support during the trial earlier this year, the jury ordered Heard to pay Depp $15 million. The jury awarded Heard $2 million in her counterclaim.

In the months since, Depp hasn't failed to find work or book new projects. In the immediate aftermath of the verdict, he performed several concerts with Jeff Beck to applauding fans.

He's set to direct "Modigliani," an upcoming film with the backing of Al Pacino announced in August. And he'll star as King Louis XV in French actor Maïwenn's upcoming film "Jeanne du Barry," which has been licensed by Netflix France. He also serves as a producer on the film, according to IMDB.

Heard, meanwhile, is gearing up for an appeal and has said she doesn't have the money to pay Depp his millions, and her biggest role to date in "Aquaman," will reportedly be scaled back in the upcoming sequel.