IsLouis C.K.dating French actress Blanche Gardin?

The 51-year-old comedian was photographed holding hands with Gardin, 41, in New York City on Tuesday, when they strolled hand-in-hand while shopping around the city.

His apparent new romance comes nearly a year aftermultiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. Headmittedto the allegations and apologized in a statement last November, stating, “These stories are true. … 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.”

It also comes on the heels of actressSarah Silverman‘s claims that heused to masturbate in front of her consensuallywhen the two were coming up in comedy together.

During an interview on SiriusXM’sThe Howard Stern Showon Monday, Silverman said of C.K., “I love him, he’s my brother. I’ve known him since I was 19.”

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EXCLUSIVE: Louis CK is Spotted Holding Hands with French Comedian Blanche Gardin in New York City.

“I don’t know if I’m going to regret saying this,” she said. “I’ve known Louis forever. I’m not making excuses for him. Please don’t take this that way. But, you know, we are peers. We’re equals. When we were kids and he used to ask if he could masturbate in front of me, sometimes I’d go, ‘F— yeah, I want to see that!’ It was like science.”

Silverman said her situation with C.K. was “not analogous” to the women who came forward with allegations against the comedian in aNew York Timesarticle last year, because unlike those women, “he could offer me nothing.” (Shelater apologizedto C.K. accuser Rebecca Corry for the remark.)

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C.K.’s attorney and Silverman’s rep did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

During a stand-up set earlier this month, thecomedian reportedly addressedthemultiple sexual misconduct allegationsmade against him.

While performing at West Side Comedy Club in New York City, theLouiestar opened his set with “It’s been a weird year,” according toLaughspin.com,an online comedy news site.

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“He said he’s been to hell and back,” a comedian on the line-up told the website.

“I lost $35 million in an hour,” he reportedly said during the set.

While his performance was met with mixed reviews from the audience, a comedian told Laughspin.com that C.K. seemed “much more confident” than he was during prior shows.

source: people.com