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Blanche Gardin is a French comedian and Louis C.K. fan. Now she's dating her idol.
By Rebekah Kuschmider — Written on Sep 21, 2020
Louis C.K. was once considered one of the greatest voices in comedy, and was beloved by audiences and critics alike for his ability to look at life from multiple angles and talk about common experiences in surprisingly hilarious ways. Then, in 2017, he admitted to sexual misconduct throughout his career and confirmed reports from multiple women that he had a habit of masturbating in front of them. In the fallout of the scandal, Louis C.K. promised to take time away from the spotlight to reflect on his behavior and learn how to be better in the future. In December 2018, audio of a new performance leaked, and many former fans were disappointed to hear the comedian making fun of survivors of the Parkland shooting, belittling trans people, and generally lowering his comedy tone. If his new material seems different, some fans believe it's due to his relationship with his girlfriend, French comedian and actress Blanche Gardin.
Who is Louis C.K.'s girlfriend, Blanche Gardin?
In France, she’s regarded as a feminist comic who refuses to fall in line with traditional feminist ideals.
She's also an actress who recently starred in the French film Delete History, which is a drama about three social media users who declare war on tech giants.
Blanche also appears on Louis C.K.'s latest endeavor, an audio series called Long-Distance Relationship, which launched in July of 2020.
Blanche Gardin is a Parisienne.
Blanche Gardin was born in Paris and grew up in a wealthy suburb with parents who were well-off political leftists. Later, she would remark on the irony of that by joking that, as a child, “she used to march past her housekeeper chanting denunciations of the bourgeoisie.”
Her younger years were troubled.
As a teen and young adult, Gardin suffered from significant periods of depression. She ran away from home as a teen, but eventually returned and went back to college, earning a degree in sociology.
Comedy was a sideline for her after she finished school; she made comedy videos with friends, but didn’t pursue it as a career.
She first discovered Louis C.K. while undergoing depression treatment in her 30s.
In her 30s, she was hospitalized for depression. It was there that she first saw videos of Louis C.K. She was taken by his style of stand-up, which was very personal.
French comedy tends to be more sketch and character-based, and she was impressed with the American flair. Later, she said those videos and the treatment she received during her hospitalization saved her life.
Blanche Gardin became a breakout comic star.
After her release, she started performing stand-up with Louis C.K. as her inspiration. She talked about her feelings in a way that was different from other French comics and began to acquire a cult following of fans.
Eventually, she would become the first woman to win the Molière Award for humor, the French equivalent of the Tony Awards.
She defended Louis C.K. when the sexual accusations came out against him.
When Louis C.K. admitted to sexual impropriety, Gardin shocked some fans when she defended him, saying, “But the fact that we put a producer who rapes actresses in the same bag as a guy whose fetish is to masturbate in front of women, after asking if he can do it, means our modern society has a big problem with nuance.”
Blanche Gardin can be controversial.
Instead of sticking to traditional feminist thinking, Gardin isn’t afraid to buck the system.
During a recent show, she said, “I know that at 41, I’m not as attractive as I was at 20. People tell me, ‘You say that because you’ve integrated a masculine vision of desire.’ No, not at all.”
“We’re born, we grow up, we get stronger, we have a peak of physical and sensual power," she explained. "And then we get older, and become weaker, and uglier, and we die. We need to digest that.”
At the same time, she exposes truths about the way society views men in power, saying, “You have to know how to separate the man from the artist. Still, it’s funny that this separation applies only to artists. For example, no one says about the baker, ‘Yes, O.K., it’s true, he rapes kids in the bakehouse, but come on, he makes an extraordinary baguette.”
Blanche Gardin and Louis C.K. confirmed their relationship in 2018.
In October 2018, Gardin was spotted holding hands with Louis CK in New York City. He confirmed their relationship while performing stand-up in a club in Paris.
Gardin was at the club at the time, watching from a balcony. She has also promoted his new material on Instagram.
Louis C.K. tried make a comeback.
In April 2020, he announced that he would be dropping a new comedy special. It's titled Sincerely C.K.
In a statement, he said, “I feel like there are two kinds of people in this world. One kind needs to laugh when things get shitty. In fact, the s***tier things get, the more serious, the more dark the more terrifying, the more dangerous and dire anything is, the more important it is to laugh in the midst of it and often directly in its face. These people believe it’s no coincidence that human beings have survived despite our fragile hairless bodies, through the most difficult of times And that we are the only species, besides ladybugs, Who laugh at life.”
In the special, Gardin was one of the people he thanked.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on January 2, 2019 and was updated with the latest information.