this is "nightline." >> tonight, no joke. comedian louis ck's surprise appearance at a comedy club just months after admitting to allegations of sexual misconduct. >> there is no greater threat to women than men. we're the number one threat to women. >> igniting a firestorm. >> he does not have the right did make those jokes anymore. >> in the era of the "me too" movement, why some say it's too soon. i've got an idea of a song in my head. >> an intimate look at musical mastermind ed sheeran as he created hits such as "the shape of you." ♪ i'm in love with your body >> tonight the british pop star is thinking out loud. >> the best songs are the most truthful and honest songs and it's because it's stuff you

can't actually say. >> shedding light on his craft as a songwriter. ♪ baby we found right where we are ♪ >> "nightline" will be right back.

good evening. when the comedian louis ck took the stage at a comedy club in new york city the other night he got big laughs and even a

standing ovation. shortly after he walked off that stage a furious debate began centering around a new question for the "me too" movement. when, if ever, is it appropriate for people accused of sexual misconduct to try and make a comeback? >> consider the fact that there is no greater threat to women than men. we're the number one threat to women. >> reporter: he was one of the highest-paid comedians in the business with his trademark dark, raunchy comedy. his sexual ineptitude often the punch line. >> i'm the guy women see and go, eww. i'm like irk know but let me talk to you for a minute. >> reporter: louis ck's career seemed to implode after five women accused him of sexual misconduct, including masturbating in front of them, allegations louis ck admit wednesday true. this past weekend, after nine months out of the spotlight, the comedian took the stage at new

york's comedy cellar performing for one of the first times since that bombshell admission. he reportedly made no mention of the allegations in his routine. >> there was the expectation i think when he came back he would say, okay, i've been listening, here's what i've learned. but he didn't do that. i'm not sure why. he just went on and pretended it was any other set. >> reporter: in response social media erupted. it seems i missed the part when louis ck served time, i just remember him living quietly as a millionaire for less than a year. michael ian black argues, will take heat but people have to be allowed to serve their time and move on with their lives. it has been nearly a year since the birth of the "me too" movement and dozens have been accused of sexual misconduct. so far only harvey weinstein has been charged with a crime. as the movement moves closer to its second year, many are asking, should the accused be shunned forever? >> as a country, we believe in redemption. but at the same time, the "me too" movement was something new, something we had never seen

before. when somebody like louis ck comes out and does this performance, he's changing the rules. he's testing the waters. and he's saying, i'm ready to come back. will you accept me? >> reporter: louis ck himself has never been criminally charged for his actions. >> make no mistake about it, louis ck is not harvey weinstein. he's not charged with rape. in fact, there's no accusation that he ever actually touched a single one of these women. but what am i supposed to do, give him a gold star because he didn't rape somebody? he masturbated, stripped down naked, and masturbated in front of women. >> reporter: although louis ck won't be tried in a court of law, he is being tried in the court of public opinion tonight. the jury is still out on whether or not he's been punished enough. >> i'm fine with the comeback, but work for it. donate some money to the "me too" movement. go spend your time with women that have been crime victims. >> reporter: louis ck's performance at the comedy cellar

was unannounced. >> there was one man who e-mailed me the next day who was upset, felt ambushed. i understood that complaint. i think that's valid. >> reporter: dorman says he watched a tape of louis ck's performance and many in the audience of about 100 or so were receptive. for those directly affected by louis ck's inappropriate behavior, there is no applause. in may one of his accuser, comedienne rebecca corey, told vulture, the idea ck re-entering the public eye would be considered a comeback story is disturbing. the guy exploited his position of power to abuse women. comeback implies he's the underdog and victim and he is neither. corey shared her story with abc news last year. >> it was 2005 and i was a writer, actress, and producer on a pilot called "midnightly news." and i was walking to set to shoot my scene and he approached me and got really close to my face and said, can i ask you

something? and i said, yes. and he said, can i masturbate in front of you in your dressing room? and the then i said, no. his face got red and he basically said he had issues. >> reporter: word reached the show's executive producers, david arquette and courteney cox. cox would confirm corey's story to the new york city times and say what happened to rebecca was awful. >> in the end i was given the decision what to do. and i chose to -- to go on with the show and not shut down production or take any action. because i did not want to have anything to do with having louis ck removed. >> reporter: after corey's story and the stories of four other women surfaced, louis ck published a lengthy statement saying he was remorseful and the power i had is they admired me and i wielded that power irresponsibly which disabled them from sharing their story and brought hardship to them

when they tried. louis ck often made jokes about masturbation, a part of his standup routine. as he did in this hbo special. >> my problem is very simple. it's trying to find a place in my house where i can masturbate without somebody bothering me. >> reporter: 2014 he spoke to abc news about his willingness to push boundaries in his comedy. >> sex is a fascinating subject. it's a hilarious subject. because it's awkward and it's high-stakes and it makes you feel great or makes you feel terrible. it's a huge array of experience, sex. well worth talking about. >> reporter: according to vulture, two women in the audience at ck's appearance at the comedy cellar said his set included a joke about the phrase "clean as a whistle" which built up to a joke about rape whistles. >> it could be a really funny joke, but from him? no. he does not have the right to make those jokes anymore. if i was his friend, i would say, dude. like, no, that's not the joke

you should be saying. >> reporter: now many wonder, will his jokes need to completely change? >> it's always harder to do a clean hour than a dirty hour. so i don't know if louis ck can be as funny being clean. >> reporter: while questions remain as to what will become of louis ck's future, others who have been accused are already feeling the repercussions. kevin spacey, accused of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen men, recently tanked at the box office when his film "billionaire boys club" only earned $126 on opening day, according to "the hollywood reporter." >> kevin spacey is one of the people who's going to have a very tough time to get a career back. at the same time, the guy is extraordinarily talented. you know? i find myself looking at "house of cards" coming back and i think, wow, it's going to be an interesting show without kevin. there's a part of me that wants him back, and there's a part of me that thinks some of the

things he did were pretty egregious and i don't want to support him. >> reporter: it seems the path toward forgiveness will vary for each of the accused. >> we're willing to look at individual xais cases and say, what is this person accused of? what do we know, what can we prove, what did they prove, what did they own up to? and make a decision for each person. >> reporter: for some fans of louis ck, his silence on the subject seems to miss the mark. next we switch gears and take an intimate behind the scenes soup to nuts look at how the pop star ed sheeran crafts his hit songs such as "the shape of you." what he's revealing tonight in a new documentary. ♪ i'm in love with the shape of you ♪ ♪ come on be my baby come on ♪ come on be my baby come on ♪ come on be my baby come on come on ♪ does your house still smell stuffy? that's because your home is filled with soft surfaces that trap odors

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when ed sheeran writes a hit song such as "perfect," it is practically inescapable. what is much harder to see is exactly how those songs get made. now sheeran is pulling back the curtain in a new documentary. here's abc's chris connelly. ♪ darling i will be loving you till we're 70 ♪ >> when you're writing a song, you're laying yourself bare. sometimes saying things that might be quite embarrassing. coming out with ideas that might be quite embarrassing. ♪ maybe we found love right where we are ♪

>> it's a really weird thing. i think it works as some sort of therapy for me, anyway. i think i've stopped myself going mad by writing songs. >> reporter: from thinking out loud -- ♪ only you >> reporter: to castle on the hill. in the age of the prefab pop star, ed sheeran is a glorious anomaly. a singer, songwriter, guitarist whose massive success rests on the rock of his songcraft and soulful voice, authentic as an unmade bed. how are you? how are you doing? >> yeah, i'm good, i'm good. i'm in l.a. so i'm staying inside trying not to get sunburnt. ♪ happy there >> reporter: with that pale skin, red hair and glasses, the 27-year-old english troubadour is the subject of "songwriter," a film from his cousin marie

cummings that documents the divine. >> having my back to the wall, observe what's happening, let it happen, film everything. ♪ baby i am dancing in the dark ♪ >> reporter: his 2017 album that spawned such hits as "perfect." ♪ i'm in love with the shape of you push and pull like a magnet do ♪ >> reporter: "the shape of you." while sheeran has spent the summer playing stadiums, the documentary puts the emphasis on his ability to craft intimate songs. the power to enthrall young hearts. ♪ >> what kind of emotions can you express in a song that you find it challenging to express in real life? >> the best songs are the most truthful and honest songs because it's stuff you can't actually say yourself. ♪ i whispered underneath my breath but you heard it ♪

♪ darling you look perfect tonight ♪ >> even something like "perfect"? that's not something that you could say? >> the odd time. oh, you look really good tonight. but to say for three minutes, that, and like every single bit of that, might freak someone out a little bit if you just said it to them. if i sat her down, oh, i've found the love for me, recited it. it would be a little bit odd. writing a song, it's like, that's nice. >> i think if you ever wanted to know anything about him, he's definitely written rifrt written it. >> reporter: from the start the film displays sheeran's work ethic as a writer. >> i feel lazy when i'm not working. when you finish a show and then you're on a bus and you're like, i'm not doing anything for the next three hours. i'm either going to watch a dvd and drink a bottle of wine, or i can write a song. or do all three. >> i was thinking of doing something like a mrs.

robinson -- >> reporter: "songwriter" captures sheeran and bennie blanco as they cowrite "love yourself." ♪ don't want you to rain on my parade ♪ >> you kind balack out. then all of a sudden there's a song there. whoa, what did we do the last three hours? usually the most inconvenient time, on a bus traveling to another city. ♪ all the times that you rain on my parade ♪ >> ed allows us to leave the room. he's like, i'm going to write some lyrics. i come back on the bus and he's got the laptop open and he's singing what he wrote. ♪ i can cry on my own >> that was really a moment where i got to see him build a song like from start to finish. ♪ and i've been so caught up >> reporter: "love yourself" would become a career-transforming hit. not for sheeran, for the performer who did sing it, justin bieber. ♪ because if you like the way

>> i never wanted to sing that song. >> why not? >> i don't know, it doesn't fit. didn't fit anything. i didn't want to sing that song. >> can you get on the fiddle and do that? >> reporter: as the movie shows, writing songs isn't just a gift that sheeran shares with the world. it can evoke powerful feelings much closer to home. ♪ so i sing hallelujah >> reporter: supermarket flowers, a song written in the wake of his grandmother's death. he's present as his father hears it for the first time. >> wow. that was utterly beautiful. >> i haven't had that many people pass away in my life. all the people who have passed away have been very close. that was my mom's mom who passed away. and i didn't know how to handle the situation with her because, you know, she's my mom and i love her and i want to do everything to make sure she's happy, but then i don't know how to approach that. so my thing was writing a song.

>> it was really -- really emotional. and i just -- kept on him. just waited and didn't make a noise. >> what's it like for you when this gift that you share with the world can transform and make real feelings of people very close to you? >> songs might go off and make someone famous or make the world kind of like care about them as a celebrity or something like that. but when it's like that intimate moment, when it's just you and your mom and you're playing her a song about that, all that stuff doesn't matter. like i would still do that if no one knew my music, i would have still written a song and done the same thing. >> reporter: but everyone seems to know ed sheeran's music. he understands how the act of songwriting that begins alone eventually is shared with all. how does it end or complete the songwriting process when you're on stage in front of 80,000 people and they are singing the song back to you? >> i think the songwriter's full circle. it's yours so long, you open it.

as soon as it goes out to the public, you longer own it, it's owned by shelley, who had her first kiss when she was 15. derrick, who's used it as his first dance or whatever. >> reporter: or by the many at capitol's single bell ball who sang along to "thinking out loud." ♪ >> the song comes out, the ownership is taken by people that really connect to the song and love it. it becomes moments in people's lives, rather than your song. >> what's that like to be on stage, to feel that energy? >> it's a really amazing thing. you see people from -- like young, young, young children to old, old, old couples all having different emotions for different songs. it's a really cool thing. >> reporter: for "nightline" i'm chris connelly in los angeles. ♪ love right where we are next, it's nothing to lose your shirt over. a code violation at the u.s. open starts a debate on sexism. ♪

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finally here tonight, why tennis officials at the u.s. open are now regretting a heated decision. here's abc's adrienne bankert. >> reporter: tonight women's tennis association says france's alize cornet did nothing wrong after she was called on a code violation for taking her shirt off to flip it around, sparking allegations of sexism. it happened fresh off an extreme heat break tuesday when she came back on court and realized her shirt was on backwards. it sparked claims of gender bias once images of male players, including roger federer, were seen bare-chested the same day while playing in an from theussang, chaeir sitting in the player chair without a code violation. >> everyone apologized to me quickly. it's not a big deal anymore. it could have happy it's not. >> our thanks to adrienne for

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