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Louis C.K. and Bill De Blasio: a Brief History of Their Budding Bromance

By Nicole Levy | April 27, 2016 3:58pm | Updated on April 27, 2016 6:11pm
 Comedian Louis C.K. accepts his
Comedian Louis C.K. accepts his "Made in NY" award in November 2014, making Mayor Bill de Blasio howl with laughter in the process.
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Getty/Ilya Savenok

Mayor Bill de Blasio may be facing allegations of campaign finance corruption, but comedian Louis C.K. isn't turning his back on his friend.

The West Village resident will be introducing the embattled politician at a May 12 fundraiser for the mayor at Williamsburg's Brooklyn Bowl, according to an email sent to donors Wednesday morning and obtained by Politico. De Blasio's 2017 campaign committee is calling the event "Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Birthday Party w/ Louis C.K."

So how exactly did the star and creator of FX's hit sitcom "Louie" come to headline the mayor's birthday celebration?

Let's review the milestones in their relationship:

The fateful first meeting

It's highly likely that C.K., born Louis Székely, and de Blasio made each other's acquaintance for the first time on Nov. 10, 2014, at a "Made in NY Awards" ceremony at which the mayor presided and C.K. was an honoree.

“I voted for this guy and it's nice when you get results like that,” the comedian said in his acceptance speech.

The first joint performance 

De Blasio invited C.K. to share the stage with him at last year's Inner Circle dinner, New York's version of the White House Correspondents' dinner.

Taking inspiration from the "Key & Peele" character who acts as President Barack Obama's "anger translator," C.K. sounded off on issues like Vision Zero and the media's portrayal of the mayor.

The two men had rehearsed their sketch at City Hall, C.K. told Howard Stern later: "We were all excited. The mayor was like, 'This is going to kill, this is going to be great.'" 

The mentoring phase

In early August, C.K. spent two days shadowing the mayor as research for an unspecified project.

Wearing his usual nondescript black T-shirt and dark jeans, the comedian snapped pictures and scribbled notes while attending de Blasio's meetings and exploring his offices. 

While he declined to elaborate on the details of his work, C.K. did tell the New York Times he considered de Blasio a "nice guy."

"He’s been really accommodating, so hopefully I’m not bothering him," C.K. said.

► The mentee becomes the champion

During an episode of WNYC's "Brian Lehrer" on Aug. 18, a caller who identified himself only as "Louis from the Village" contributed his two cents to a segment about the public's perception of the mayor, days after criticism that the mayor spent 80 minutes working out instead of rushing to the hospital bed of a firefighter injured in the line of duty.

"I really like this mayor and it's bothered me that there's sort of a culture of clickbait in the news right now, that only little negative stories get attention," the caller said.

"You want a guy or a woman who just does good and then moves on to the next thing. But the press today, they don't make any money articles about, 'Look this job number's up.' They make money on articles about, 'Hey, look at this little pointless gaffe that the mayor did,'" said "Louis from the Village," whom show producers suspected was Louis C.K.