Comedian Louis CK has admitted that allegations of sexual misconduct made against him by five women “are true”.

The American film star, 50, shared a lengthy statement in response to the claims, in which he said he felt “remorseful” and that there was “nothing about this that I forgive myself for”.

His comments came after he was accused of masturbating in front of a number of comedians and actresses in an article in The New York Times.

In the statement released to the Associated Press, the Emmy Award-winner said: “I want to address the stories told to the New York Times by five women named Abby, Rebecca, Dana, Julia who felt able to name themselves and one who did not.

Netflix
Netflix announced it has cancelled a production by CK (Netflix/PA)

“These stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was OK because I never showed a woman my d*** 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 d*** 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.

“I have been remorseful of my actions. And I’ve tried to learn from them. And run from them. Now I’m aware of the extent of the impact of my actions.

“I learned yesterday the extent to which I left these women who admired me feeling badly about themselves and cautious around other men who would never have put them in that position.”

He continued: “I also took advantage of the fact that I was widely admired in my and their community, which disabled them from sharing their story and brought hardship to them when they tried because people who look up to me didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t think that I was doing any of that because my position allowed me not to think about it.

“There is nothing about this that I forgive myself for. And I have to reconcile it with who I am. Which is nothing compared to the task I left them with.

“I wish I had reacted to their admiration of me by being a good example to them as a man and given them some guidance as a comedian, including because I admired their work.

“The hardest regret to live with is what you’ve done to hurt someone else. And I can hardly wrap my head around the scope of hurt I brought on them.”

His words came shortly after online streaming service Netflix said it was pulling a CK stand-up production, while independent distributor The Orchard said it had scrapped plans to distribute his latest film, I Love You, Daddy, in the wake of the allegations.

CK added in his statement: “I’d be remiss to exclude the hurt that I’ve brought on people who I work with and have worked with who’s professional and personal lives have been impacted by all of this, including projects currently in production: the cast and crew of Better Things, Baskets, The Cops, One Mississippi, and I Love You, Daddy.

“I deeply regret that this has brought negative attention to my manager Dave Becky who only tried to mediate a situation that I caused.

“I’ve brought anguish and hardship to the people at FX who have given me so much, The Orchard who took a chance on my movie and every other entity that has bet on me through the years.

“I’ve brought pain to my family, my friends, my children and their mother. I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen.”

He signed off: “Thank you for reading.”

Netflix said in a statement to the Associated Press: “The allegations made by several women in The New York Times about Louis CK’s behaviour are disturbing.

“Louis’s unprofessional and inappropriate behaviour with female colleagues has led us to decide not to produce a second stand-up special, as had been planned.”

On Thursday the New York premiere for I Love You, Daddy – in which CK portrays a TV producer whose teenage daughter enters into a relationship with an older director – was cancelled hours in advance as organisers were made aware of the upcoming New York Times story.