Comedian Louis C.K. has issued a statement after five women accused him of sexual misconduct.

The allegations were made in a New York Times story published on Thursday evening. The 50-year-old has now come forward to respond to the piece, saying that he is "remorseful of his actions". The comedian said in a statement:

I want to address the stories told to the New York Times by five women named Abby, Rebecca, Dana, Julia who felt able to name themselves and one who did not. "These stories are true.  At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, 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.   The power I had over these women is that they admired me.  And I wielded that power irresponsibly. "I have been remorseful of my actions. And I’ve tried to learn from them. And run from them. Now I’m aware of the extent of the impact of my actions. "I learned yesterday the extent to which I left these women who admired me feeling badly about themselves and cautious around other men who would never have put them in that position. "I also took advantage of the fact that I was widely admired in my and their community, which disabled them from sharing their story and brought hardship to them when they tried because people who look up to me didn’t want to hear it. "I didn’t think that I was doing any of that because my position allowed me not to think about it. "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."

You can read his full statement blow. https://twitter.com/ditzkoff/status/929050106246115329 Photo via Getty.