Video showing former Daily Show Jon Stewart host laughing off claims that Louis C.K. sexually harassed women has re-emerged after a year and a half.

Stewart was at a recording of the podcast The Axe Files at the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics in May last year when he was asked whether he had seen Gawker articles accusing C.K, or a subsequent Twitter discussion.

The ex-host, who famously doesn't use Twitter, let out a hysterical laugh then said in a small, faintly mocking voice: 'No, I didn't see "the tweets"'.

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Jon Stewart is seen here laughing in May 2016 when asked about 2012 allegations that Louis C.K. sexually harassed women. On Thursday five women spoke out on the record about C.K.

C.K. (right, with Stewart in 2011) admitted on Friday that he had masturbated in front of women without their permission. The claims first emerged in a blind article on Gawker in 2012

On Thursday five female comedians said that C.K. masturbated either in front of them or while on the phone to them without their permission; today he admitted the claims were true.

But rumors that he had exposed himself to unwilling women have been swirling since at least 2012.

That was when a blind article on Gawker about a male comedian masturbating in front of women was linked to him on Twitter. Subsequent Gawker articles openly accused him of sexual harassment.

But as the video shows, Stewart remained ignorant of the claims up until May 2016, when he was asked about them in a Q&A session after the podcast.

'Woah, what?!' the host blurted, when asked why he hadn't addressed the rumors around C.K. in his appearance on the penultimate Daily Show on August 5, 2015.

He then let out a hysterical laugh and said: 'So wait, wait, I'm a little lost. So the internet said Louis harassed women?'

The audience member talked about remarks allegedly made by a female comedian, then said other claims came out on Twitter.

Stewart immediately let out another laugh, and said, 'You know who you're talking to, right?' - referring to his hatred of Twitter - then, in a small, mocking tone familiar to fans of The Daily Show: 'No, I didn't see "the Tweets"'.

This audience member asked Stewart why C.K. wasn't questioned about the alleged abuse when he appeared on the host's penultimate edition The Daily Show

Stewart was clearly surprised about the claims, but his initial response was to laugh - even when presented with the name of a comedian who had said C.K. made dubious remarks to her

The implication that these claims are unreliable because they were expressed on the internet was picked up by the questioner, who pressed on, and brought up the Bill Cosby allegations.

'I apologize,' Stewart said, 'I'm not that connected to that world, so I apologize - but I don't know what you're talking about... I don't know what to say.'

He added 'I've worked with Louis for 30 years and he's a wonderful man and person, and I've never heard anything about this

That Stewart's immediate response was to laugh, rather than to take the claims seriously, was a bugbear for some.

Actor James Urbaniak, best known for his starring role on cult comedy cartoon The Venture Bros., tweeted the video with the message 'Jon Stewart is asked about the Louis CK accusations, then laughs at the questioner & makes fun of the internet.

'Quaint and enabling responses from a different time.'

Actor James Urbaniak shared the video on his Twitter account, characterizing Stewart's comments as 'quaint and enabling responses from a different time'

The comedian mentioned by the audience member in the clip is Jen Kirkman, who said on her own podcast in 2014: 'This guy didn’t rape me, but he made a certain difficult decision to go on tour with him really hard.

'Because I knew if I did, I'd be getting more of the same weird treatment I'd been getting from him.'

CK was identified as the man by Kirkman in an interview with The Nerdist, in which she claimed he 'said something kind of creepy' to her.

But in an interview with The Village Voice in September, she walked that back.

'There are rumors out there that Louis takes his d**k out at women,' she said. 'He has never done that to me. I never said he did, I never implied that he did.

'What I said was, when you hear rumors about someone, and they ask you to go on the road with them, this is what being a woman in comedy is like - imagine if there's always a chance of rain over your head but [with] men, there isn't.

'So you go, "Should I leave the house with an umbrella, or not?"'

She added: 'Sometimes there's nothing there. I think this might be a case of there's nothing there.

'If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and if any women want to come forward and say what he's done, I'll totally back them, because I believe women. But I just don't know any.'

On Friday HBO announced that it would cut C.K.'s performance from a recording of The Night of Too Many Stars autism fundraiser, which is set to air on November 18.

It was announced the same day that C.K's new film, I Love You Daddy, was having its theatrical run canceled.

Stewart and C.K. are seen here with Katy Perry ahead of the 'Night of Too Many Stars' autism fundraiser special in 2012. Both men contributed to 2016's edition, but HBO says it will cut C.K's sections before it airs on November 18

On Thursday The New York Times quoted five female comedians - Dana Min Goodman, Julia Wolov, Abby Schachner, Rebecca Corry, and a fifth unnamed woman - who said C.K. masturbated on front of them, or over the phone.

None had given him their permission, the women claimed.

C.K initially declined to comment on the allegations outlined by the five women, but on Friday he released a statement in which he admitted everything.

'These stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my d**k without asking first, which is also true,' he wrote.

'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**k isn't a question. It's a predicament for them.'

He also said: '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.'

He apologized to the women, and to the Hollywood colleagues associated with his films and TV shows, as well as acknowledging the 'pain' he's brought to his family, friends, children and ex-wife.

'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 concluded.