Just over two years since Louis C.K. fell into disgrace, he's staging an audacious comeback tour.

The scandal began with a scathing November 2017 report in the New York Times that the comic masturbated in front of five women or while on the phone with them, or had asked to do so.

Now, Louis C.K. is selling out venues across the country, including two shows at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick on March 4 and 5 and Philadelphia on March 6.

A representative for Louis C.K. declined to comment on the comedian's return to the stage.

It may be the boldest attempt at a #MeToo comeback the entertainment world has seen yet — and at a time when society allows for few second chances, Louis C.K.'s loyal fans seem willing to condemn the conduct, but not the comedian.

And unlike performers who work for large corporations, he may be in a unique position to stage his own revival.

"What separates Louis C.K. from some of these other offenders is that when you work alone, you can go anywhere and your fans can have anonymity," said Danny Deraney, a Los Angeles-based public relations executive recognized as a top celebrity crisis communications expert.

"You can just appear as someone and get paid and there are no contracts. It’s not the same impact as 20 people saying, 'I’m not going to work with this person anymore.' "

Still, there was fallout. After Louis C.K. confirmed the claims in a statement to the Times, his film “I Love You, Daddy,” was cancelled, as was a Netflix stand-up special and an appearance on HBO's “Night of Too Many Stars” autism special.

"What I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your (penis) isn’t a question," he wrote. "It’s a predicament for them. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly."

But Louis C.K.'s return is not without controversy — including whether venues should book him.

“I’m not shocked that people are buying tickets,” said Chelsea Moroski, a 26-year-old comedian living in North Brunswick who has performed at venues throughout New Jersey.

“No matter what the industry, people who do bad things are usually not given the repercussions that they should," she said. "It’s sad but it’s not surprising. There is going to be an audience for everything.”

The box office bottom line doesn't lie.

Sarah Chaplin, president and CEO of State Theatre of New Jersey, said in a statement that having Louis C.K. acknowledged his failings and his performance provides a chance to continue discussing the issues.

“I do not condone Louis C.K.’s previous actions or behavior,” Chaplin said in her email. “Instead of sweeping Louis C.K. and his conduct under the ‘Cancel Culture’ carpet, we must take the opportunity to continue the discourse and correct the environment, so this kind of behavior does not occur.”

Longtime fan Lindsey Adams of Philadelphia, who has seen Louis C.K. several times in the past, will be among those in the audience when the comedian performs at the Met.

Adams said she read The New York Times report, and Louis C.K.'s statement, but that did not weigh on her decision to purchase tickets.

"He just did something that’s like very perverted and probably (messed) up and he shouldn’t do it," she said. "But I think that to hold someone accountable their entire life for something that they did in their personal life, I think that that can be separated from how you see that person as an entertainer.”

“People should be free to enjoy whatever they want," said Philadelphia-based comedian Jesse Draham. "I’m going to the show with my own moral hang-ups about the guy, but if you try to make every dollar you spend 100 percent morally ethical, you will have no place to spend your money."

Draham also said he was happy to see the announcement of the current tour, "because the guy is like the best comedian of a generation. There’s no way around that."

Louis C.K. does appears to fall into a category of entertainers who are able to come back after a #MeToo disgrace. Unlike Harvey Weinstein, who is on trial for sex crimes, and Bill Cosby, who is in jail after being convicted of sexual assault, Louis C.K.'s path is similar to that of "A Prairie Home Companion" host Garrison Keillor, whom Minnesota Public Radio cut ties with after he was accused of inappropriate behavior. Keillor continues to tour and will host the "A Prairie Home Companion" Caribbean Cruise in March.

Louis C.K. suffered other professional consequences. Along with the canceled release of his film "I Love You, Daddy," FX Networks cut its professional ties with him, and his character from the 2016 animated children's film "The Secret Life of Pets" was voiced by Patton Oswalt for the movie's 2019 sequel.

But he's continued to perform live stand-up. Following a number of small-scale shows, he launched this international comeback tour in late 2019.

"Louis C.K. doesn't need Netflix and NBC and CBS so he can work again," said Deraney.

"He can go into Bob’s Comedy Club in Toledo, Ohio, and make a couple thousand dollars, whereas for someone like Kevin Spacey to work, he needs to have some sort of a production company," Deraney said. "He has a luxury that other people don’t in that he can perform to a half house or a full house and I don’t think he cares if he is going to be protested or if one person out of 50 is going to say something."

Jess Alaimo, a 32-year-old comedian living in Asbury Park, shared Moroski's belief that, in the end, money trumps outrage. She will not support the State Theatre after its choice to book Louis C.K., she said.

“It’s about money, and if people are going to see him, he’s going to be booked. You can’t expect people wanting to make money to have good morals," said Alaimo. "It’s about our culture and why this matters for women and why it’s not OK. Until we address the culture, people like Louis will be booked.”

Patricia Teffenhart, executive director of New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said that people shouldn't be profiting off of sexual misconduct.

“I would like to see that we wouldn’t be looking to profit off other people’s trauma,” she said.

According to Teffenhart, the 21 county-based sexual violence service programs that the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault works with served 19,000 victims and their loved ones last year, an increase from the average 10,000 victims per year and their loved ones over the past six years.

“In this scenario with Louis C.K., the most dramatic impact we can have is to not invest our financial resources see his performance,” said Teffenhart. “I certainly would never intend to invest my money to sit in an audience where we are going to hear the traumatic effects he’s had on other peoples’ lives."

A ‘tone-deaf’ show

During an early 2019 comedy show in San Jose, California, Louis C.K. joked, “I like to jerk off, and I don’t like being alone,” according to the Daily Beast and other news sources.

Throughout the years before Louis C.K. was accused by the five women, he also joked about masturbation — at least 17 times from 2005 through 2017, according to an article by The Cut.

But Louis C.K. is now taking measures to try to keep questionable material from his shows from being recorded or shared.

Last May, a strict policy for all of his shows was announced which does not allow audience members to bring their phones or share material from his performance in any way, shape or form without his express consent.

Upon arrival to the venues, all phones and smartwatches are secured in Yondr pouches — basically a bag that seals up your phone — that are opened at the end of the shows — a practice that's become increasingly common at concerts, film festivals and other events.

In the first shows of Louis C.K.'s new tour hosted in Richmond, Virginia, on Nov. 2, the comedian stuck to subjects that fans have come to expect from him, including Sept. 11, slavery, pedophilia and the Holocaust.

According to a New York Times review of one of the Richmond shows, "Those looking for any apologetic notes or reckoning with the damage he has done will be disappointed. He is not aiming for redemption onstage. If anything, he’s doubling down on the comedic value of saying the wrong thing."

Teffenhart finds Louis C.K.’s ability to joke and profit off his past behavior perhaps most alarming of all.

“What’s troubling about this scenario is the doubling down on the content in his bit — there doesn’t seem to be remorse,” she said. “He’s using the experiences that have caused trauma to others to continue to make money, and that is to me where we have to draw a distinct line. I can’t speak to whether he’s changed his behavior, but the tone seems to imply that there’s not a lot of remorse."

Keith Corcoran of Matawan said he will be attending one of the State Theatre shows with his mother and sister as a family celebration for his sister's 45th birthday. All three, Corcoran said, are fans of Louis C.K. dating back to his 2006 HBO series, "Lucky Louie."

He had bought his sister and mother tickets to see the comedian at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan a few years ago, but Corcoran's mother suffered an injury at the train station and had to miss the show.

"Yes, it’s kind of strange to be taking both my 67-year-old mother and 45-year-old sister to this," Corcoran said via email, "but my mother is a retried psychiatric ward nurse and my sister runs a nursing home so they are well versed in the horrors of life and the human condition."