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MINNESOTA SENATOR AL Franken apologised today and faced a likely Senate ethics investigation after a Los Angeles radio anchor accused him of forcibly kissing her during a 2006 USO tour.
Leeann Tweeden also accused Franken of posing for a photo with his hands on her breasts as she slept, while both were performing for military personnel two years before the one-time comedian was elected to the Senate.
Tweeden posted the allegations, including the photo, on the website of KABC, where she works as a news anchor for a morning radio show.
Tweeden said today that Franken was persistent, and “every time I see him now, my hands clench into fists.”
Still, she said she has no reason not to accept his apology, and is not calling for an ethics investigation or for Franken to resign. She told a news conference in Los Angeles that she came forward hoping to inspire others to tell their stories.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the allegations “troubling” and said he hopes and expects that the Senate Ethics Committee will investigate.
“Sexual harassment is never acceptable and must not be tolerated,” Schumer said.
Franken’s fellow Minnesota Democrat, Amy Klobuchar, said, “This should not have happened to Leeann Tweeden. I strongly condemn this behavior, and the Senate Ethics Committee must open an investigation.”
Franken initially released a brief statement in which he apologized but questioned Tweeden’s recollection of his behavior during their rehearsal for a skit.
In a longer statement this afternoon, he again apologised while maintaining that he remembered the rehearsal differently.
“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,” he said.
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 realise were just plain offensive.
Of the photo, Franken said: “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.”
https://www.facebook.com/senatoralfranken/posts/1553158881436655
Senate Democrats reacted swiftly and with one voice to the allegation that came as Republicans are grappling with allegations of molestation against Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore in Alabama.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has said Moore should step aside, quickly said the Senate should look into Franken.
“With all credible allegations of sexual harassment or assault, I believe the Ethics Committee should review the matter,” McConnell said.
Franken said he welcomed the investigation.
Some of the more forceful statements came from the Senate’s Democratic women.
Claire McCaskill of Missouri said she was “shocked and concerned” at the allegations.
“The behavior described is completely unacceptable. Comedy is no excuse for inappropriate conduct, and I believe there should be an ethics investigation,” McCaskill said.
Patty Murray of Washington state said she was glad Franken had apologised but “that doesn’t reverse what he’s done or end the matter”.
Tweeden told The Associated Press that Franken wrote a skit for the pair that was filled with “sexual innuendo”, and that he had brought a woman’s thong as a prop that he waved around during their performance.
Part of the skit included a kiss, she said, and he insisted they practice during a rehearsal despite her protests.
“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,” she wrote.
The photo that she included was taken on the trip home from Afghanistan.
Franken is shown grinning and staring at the camera while reaching out as if to grope Tweeden’s breasts as she sleeps. Tweeden said she didn’t discover the photo until she returned home.
Speaking on her radio show this morning, Tweeden said she didn’t come forward with the allegations sooner because she feared her career, including a stint as a swimsuit model, would lead others to discount her story.
“I felt belittled. I was ashamed. I’ve had to live with this for 11 years,” she said on-air. “Somehow it was going to be my fault. It was not going to be worth the fight.”
Franken is a longtime comedian and Saturday Night Live writer who won a Minnesota seat in the Senate after a lengthy recount in 2009.
He drew criticism during his first Senate campaign for joking about rape while discussing a sketch idea during his days at NBC-TV. Franken said then that he regretted some of the things he had written, and said he respected women “in both my personal and professional life”.
Franken is the latest person swept up in sexual harassment allegations that have mushroomed since Hollywood figure Harvey Weinstein was hit with multiple allegations.
Tweeden said the surge of people coming forward with their own experiences of sexual harassment or assault encouraged her to go public with her account.
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Have just been looking at the 387 comments on the Journal from the 29th of February 2020 relating to the story about the first case of Covid found in Ireland. It’s fascinating stuff. Many of them are flippant and jocular and you can tell that nobody expected we’d still be dealing with it two years later. What’s more fascinating though is that I don’t recognise any of the names of the commenters from back then. Commenting on Journal stories appears to have a shelf-life, which is understandable. I wonder how long it will take most of us commenting on stories semi-regularly to get bored and move on. There’s only so many ways we can spout the same old BS before it gets old and tired and pointless but that’s never stopped anyone I suppose. Take this comment for example…
@William Tallon: Personally I’m going nowhere. I’ll be around when others cannot be found. I am forever baby. I am Vonvonic!!
@William Tallon: You trawled through 387 comments? I don’t think that was good for you William, I think I’d have needed therapy.
@Bert Carolan: You might yet need therapy for even imagining the way you’d have felt.
@Vonvonic: You could be right, I’m just thinking of some of the madder stuff that was on here. In a funny way it helped me get through those days.
@Bert Carolan: Looking at and trawling have different meanings as you well know but hey, using words incorrectly or out of context in the Journal comments section never gets old or tired or pointless…
@Vonvonic: Yes, I’ve no doubt you are forever or at least it feels that way so far…
@William Tallon: Now now. There’s no need for that. I’m sure if you met me in real life you’d realise that I’m not the big super hero you imagine I am. I’m just a normal guy who gets up in the morning and mows the grass
@Vonvonic: Yes.
@William Tallon: interesting. I’d like to have a look back at that. I have been commenting on the journal for about 10 years, but my initial two accounts were twitter accounts both of which were banned by the journal for fairly flimsy reasons. I mean seriously silly reasons. One was when I made a very light hearted joke about a couple of typos in an article headline. So there are probably a fair few of those commentors still commenting but under a different account like myself.
@Gerry McCaughey: After a while, you start to recognise the same names commenting over and over on the various stories here and I genuinely haven’t seen the majority of those names from two years ago doing so today.
@William Tallon: I’ll drop in occasionally, and out of respect I’ll respond William. I have to add, the comments section has been a tonic for the last 2 years.
@William Tallon: If going through 387 comments isn’t a trawl I don’t know what is .Or is it a slog. Or was it just the names of the commentators you looked at?
And of course my comment was intended to be humorous. I have found the Journal comments to be the preserve of a lot of types that I used to meet in the chipper after closing time.
@Bert Carolan: love the chipper analogy!
@William Tallon: Not sure what ur getting at, but as others have said thejournal regularly bans users, so many will change their login.
If you are referring to Covid articles then of course less people commentating as also less people reading articles. Covid Articles used to be the most read with upto 90k and more sometimes. Now they usually less than 20k.
@Da Dell: And I’m not sure what you’re getting at. Guess that balances things out so.
@Bert Carolan: I have no recollection of ever meeting you in the chipper after closing time as I ordered my Southern Fried Chicken dinner box and a portion of garlic sauce for dipping my chips in. In my defence though I was always rather drunk…
@DJBERMO: I find the Journal’s comments section horribly fascinating in that gawping at a car-crash sort of way. I’ve certainly never found it to be a tonic…
Hospital numbers are low which is very positive
Live Life and think of other who can’t because of the last two years rip to them
Pints and clubbing! Still catching up on the last 2 years
@Tom Bombdadil: Sad
@In the paper: hahahahaha! Most definitely not, you still under the bed.
@In the paper: Ah here. Move on a small bit.
I graft in a test centre and very few are getting tested so these numbers can’t be accurate in terms of the amount of infections. Numbers are a lot higher.
1st comment
@Kevin: do you want a cookie?!
We were doing great and hopefully this is just a small blip and we can get the numbers down faster.
Just keep following the few rules left and we will all be free.
Its our first pandemic and you never forget your first time!!!!!!
@Gary Kearney: whats a small blip? Hospital cases low icu down
Case numbers stable
@Gary Kearney: great…comparing your 1st time to Covid, you 1stvtime must have really sucked & not in a good way.
It’s time for YAWN GIFS on.the journal
have your say