US comedian Louis CK's movie premiere has been cancelled hours before the screening as five women levelled sexual misconduct allegations against him.
Louis CK speaking earlier this year. Photo: AFP / Brad Barket / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA
Four of the accusers told the New York Times he had masturbated during interactions with them and a fifth said he had asked to do so.
The BBC has contacted the Emmy-winning comic's manager for a comment.
The distributor of his new film, I Love You, Daddy, said it was reviewing plans for its general release.
Four comediennes - Dana Min Goodman, Julia Wolov, Rebecca Corry and Abby Schachner - and a fifth woman who spoke on condition of anonymity made allegations about the entertainer in Thursday's New York Times report.
Ms Goodman and Ms Wolov said Louis CK stripped naked and masturbated after inviting them to his hotel room during the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado, in 2002.
Ms Corry told the newspaper that the comic was a guest star on a TV pilot she was appearing on in 2005 when he asked if he could go to her dressing room so she could watch him perform a sex act on himself.
She said she rebuked him and pointed out that he had a daughter and a pregnant wife.
Ms Schachner said she called Louis CK in 2003 to invite him to one of her shows and was dumbfounded to realise during their phone conversation that he was masturbating.
"I felt very ashamed," she told the New York Times.
A fifth woman, who did not want to be named, told the newspaper of alleged incidents involving the comic in the late 1990s while she was working in production on The Chris Rock Show.
Louis CK, who was a writer and producer on the show, repeatedly asked her to watch him perform a sex act, she told the newspaper.
The accuser said she went along with his requests even though she knew it was wrong.
"He abused his power," she said.
The premiere of Louis CK's new movie in New York City on Thursday night was abruptly called off.
Louis CK's planned appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has also been cancelled.
- BBC