Jon Stewart spoke out today about the sexual misconduct allegations against his friend Louis C.K., admitting that he was "stunned" by the New York Times exposé last week. Five women stated that C.K. had masturbated either in front of them or while on the phone to them.

"You give your friends the benefit of the doubt," Stewart said on The Today Show this morning, before going on to explain that he tried to think about C.K.'s behavior in the context of an addiction.

"I tried to think about it in terms of, I've had friends who have had compulsions and have done things: gambling or drinking or drugs. And we've lost some of them. Some of them have died. You always find yourself back to a moment of, 'Did I miss something? Could I have done more?' And in this situation, I think we all could have. So you feel anger at what you did to people."

Stewart also acknowledged that comedy is "on its best day, not a great environment for women" even without the layer of "pressure and manipulation and fear and humiliation" added by C.K.'s misconduct.

Following the Times story, C.K. confirmed in a statement that the allegations were true. "All the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first," C.K. wrote. "But what I learned later in life, too, 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."

From: Esquire US