Al Franken Apologizes After Accusation He Kissed and Groped TV News Anchor

By Sabrina Siddiqui, Guardian UK

16 November 17

Senator and former comedian calls for ethics investigation after Leeann Tweeden alleges he forcibly kissed her and later groped her while she was asleep in 2006

S senator and former comedian Al Franken has issued an apology after being accused of kissing and groping a woman without her consent.

Leeann Tweeden, a Los Angeles-based news anchor, came forward with the allegations in an op-ed published by KABC radio on Thursday that detailed an encounter with Franken during a tour of the Middle East to entertain US troops in 2006.

Tweeden alleges that Franken, then a comedian and formerly of Saturday Night Live, forcibly kissed her while rehearsing for a skit and later groped her while she was asleep.

She also shared a photo that appears to show Franken placing his hands over her breasts while posing for the camera.

The Democratic senator swiftly issued an apology to Tweeden, claiming to remember the rehearsal differently.

“I certainly don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann,” Franken said in a statement provided to the Guardian.

“As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn’t. I shouldn’t have done it.”

Within hours, Franken released a more detailed written statement in which he endorsed an ethics investigation into Tweeden’s allegation while vowing he would “gladly cooperate”.

“The first and most important thing – and if it’s the only thing you care to hear, that’s fine – is: I’m sorry,” Franken said.

“I respect women. I don’t respect men who don’t. And the fact that my own actions have given people a good reason to doubt that makes me feel ashamed.”

While he maintained to hold a different recollection of the rehearsal, Franken added: “I understand why we need to listen to and believe women’s experiences.”

Franken also said the photo of him appearing to grope Tweeden was “completely inappropriate”.

“I don’t know what was in my head when I took that picture, and it doesn’t matter. There’s no excuse,” he said.

“I look at it now and I feel disgusted with myself. It isn’t funny.”

The allegation comes as controversy continues over the alleged behavior of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has now been accused of sexual assault by four women and of sexual misconduct by others, amid a wave of outrage over sexual harassment since the Harvey Weinstein case broke in October. Moore, the Republican candidate in a special election in Alabama next month, denies the claims against him.

Donald Trump also faces allegations of sexual assault by at least a dozen women, most of whom came forward in the months leading up to the 2016 election.

A growing number of women have also described sexual misconduct as rampant on Capitol Hill.

A CNN investigation, based on interviews with 50 lawmakers, current and former Hill aides, detailed the environment as “pervasive”.

On Tuesday, Representatives Jackie Speier, a Democrat from California, and Barbara Comstock, a Republican from Virginia, testified before a House committee that two sitting male members of Congress had “engaged in sexual harassment”. Although they declined to name the men, one account included the allegation that a male lawmaker exposed his genitals to a female staffer.

Speier also came forward with her own personal story of sexual assault while working as a young congressional staffer decades ago. Reports have also surfaced of an alleged “creep list” kept by congressional staffers, which collects accounts of inappropriate behavior by male lawmakers and aides.

Franken is facing re-election in Minnesota and has been named among possible Democratic contenders for president in 2020.

In her essay, Tweeden said she intended to participate in the comedy tour, hosted by the United Service Organizations, as an emcee. But she claimed that Franken wrote a moment into the script where his character “comes at me for a ‘kiss’”.

Tweeden said she assumed she could turn her head away or put her hand over Franken’s mouth “to get more laughs from the crowd”. But on the day of the show, Tweeden wrote, she was alone with Franken backstage when he told her, “We need to rehearse the kiss.”

“I laughed and ignored him. Then he said it again,” she wrote. “I said something like, ‘Relax Al, this isn’t SNL … we don’t need to rehearse the kiss.’”

Tweeden said Franken continued to insist, causing her to grow uncomfortable. She recalled agreeing “so he would stop badgering me”.

“We did the line leading up to the kiss and then he came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth,” Tweeden wrote, before adding she immediately pushed him away and warned him against doing so again.

“I walked away. All I could think about was getting to a bathroom as fast as possible to rinse the taste of him out of my mouth … I felt disgusted and violated.”

Tweeden said she did not inform any of the officials on the trip because she did not wish to cause trouble. She said she performed the skit as written but turned her head away so Franken could not kiss her lips.

Upon returning to the US, she recounted looking through photos and seeing an image of Franken appearing to grope her breasts.

I’ve decided it’s time to tell my story. #MeToohttps://t.co/TqTgfvzkZg

— Leeann Tweeden (@LeeannTweeden) November 16, 2017

“I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated,” she wrote. “How dare anyone grab my breasts like this and think it’s funny?”

Tweeden said she told her husband and showed him the photo, but did not come forward at the time because she was worried about the potential backlash and impact it might have on her career to make such accusations against an influential male.

“But that was then, this is now,” she wrote. “I’m no longer afraid.”

The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, responded quickly to the Franken allegations by demanding an official investigation.

“As with all credible allegations of sexual harassment or assault, I believe the ethics committee should review the matter,” McConnell said in a statement. “I hope the Democratic leader will join me on this. Regardless of party, harassment and assault are completely unacceptable – in the workplace or anywhere else.”

Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, also backed a formal inquiry while stating: “Sexual harassment is never acceptable and must not be tolerated.”

“I hope and expect that the ethics committee will fully investigate this troubling incident, as they should with any credible allegation of sexual harassment.”

Other Democrats rushed to condemn Franken shortly after the allegation surfaced.

“There is never an excuse for this behavior – ever,” said Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate.

Patty Murray, another member of Senate Democratic leadership, also called for an ethics investigation.

“This is unacceptable behavior and extremely disappointing,” she said.

Last month, Franken condemned Weinstein’s behavior in a Facebook post as “appalling” while noting it was “far too common”.

Al Franken’s second statement in full

The first thing I want to do is apologize: to Leeann, to everyone else who was part of that tour, to everyone who has worked for me, to everyone I represent, and to everyone who counts on me to be an ally and supporter and champion of women. There’s more I want to say, but the first and most important thing – and if it’s the only thing you care to hear, that’s fine – is: I’m sorry.

I respect women. I don’t respect men who don’t. And the fact that my own actions have given people a good reason to doubt that makes me feel ashamed.

But I want to say something else, too. Over the last few months, all of us – including and especially men who respect women – have been forced to take a good, hard look at our own actions and think (perhaps, shamefully, for the first time) about how those actions have affected women.

For instance, that picture. I don’t know what was in my head when I took that picture, and it doesn’t matter. There’s no excuse. I look at it now and I feel disgusted with myself. It isn’t funny. It’s completely inappropriate. It’s obvious how Leeann would feel violated by that picture. And, what’s more, I can see how millions of other women would feel violated by it – women who have had similar experiences in their own lives, women who fear having those experiences, women who look up to me, women who have counted on me.

Coming from the world of comedy, I’ve told and written a lot of jokes that I once thought were funny but later came to realize were just plain offensive. But the intentions behind my actions aren’t the point at all. It’s the impact these jokes had on others that matters. And I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to come to terms with that.

While I don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit as Leeann does, I understand why we need to listen to and believe women’s experiences.

I am asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken, and I will gladly cooperate.

And the truth is, what people think of me in light of this is far less important than what people think of women who continue to come forward to tell their stories. They deserve to be heard, and believed. And they deserve to know that I am their ally and supporter. I have let them down and am committed to making it up to them.