http://variety.com/2017/politics/news/al-franken-accused-groping-radio-host-1202616459/
Disappointed in Al, whom I respect greatly, but he manned up, and apologized, unlike some people. Like he said, it was supposed to be funny, but it wasn't.
[h=1]Al Franken Apologizes After Being Accused of Groping, Kissing Radio Host Without Consent[/h]
TV and radio host Leeann Tweeden accused Senator Al Franken on Thursday of groping and kissing her without her consent in 2006.
Tweeden, who works on “McIntyre in the Morning” on KABC/790 AM, detailed the alleged encounter on the radio station’s website.
The former model said the two were practicing a skit while working on a USO tour of the Middle East in 2006 when the comedian insisted on rehearsing a kiss from the sketch, despite Tweeden’s refusal.
“He continued to insist, and I was beginning to get uncomfortable,” Tweeden writes. “He repeated that actors really need to rehearse everything and that we must practice the kiss. I said ‘OK’ 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 also posted a photo of what appears to be a grinning Franken cupping her breasts while she’s asleep. She said the photo was taken without her knowledge on the plane ride home to Los Angeles.
“I couldn’t believe it. He groped me, without my consent, while I was asleep,” she says. “I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated. How dare anyone grab my breasts like this and think it’s funny?”
Franken apologized for the incident in a statement obtained by Variety.
“I certainly don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann,” he said. “As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn’t. I shouldn’t have done it.”
Disappointed in Al, whom I respect greatly, but he manned up, and apologized, unlike some people. Like he said, it was supposed to be funny, but it wasn't.
[h=1]Al Franken Apologizes After Being Accused of Groping, Kissing Radio Host Without Consent[/h]
TV and radio host Leeann Tweeden accused Senator Al Franken on Thursday of groping and kissing her without her consent in 2006.
Tweeden, who works on “McIntyre in the Morning” on KABC/790 AM, detailed the alleged encounter on the radio station’s website.
The former model said the two were practicing a skit while working on a USO tour of the Middle East in 2006 when the comedian insisted on rehearsing a kiss from the sketch, despite Tweeden’s refusal.
“He continued to insist, and I was beginning to get uncomfortable,” Tweeden writes. “He repeated that actors really need to rehearse everything and that we must practice the kiss. I said ‘OK’ 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 also posted a photo of what appears to be a grinning Franken cupping her breasts while she’s asleep. She said the photo was taken without her knowledge on the plane ride home to Los Angeles.
“I couldn’t believe it. He groped me, without my consent, while I was asleep,” she says. “I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated. How dare anyone grab my breasts like this and think it’s funny?”
Franken apologized for the incident in a statement obtained by Variety.
“I certainly don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann,” he said. “As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn’t. I shouldn’t have done it.”