Al Franken Apologizes After Being Accused of Groping, Kissing Radio Host Without Consent

Search

Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
22,991
Tokens
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.”
 

Active member
Handicapper
Joined
Jun 18, 2007
Messages
77,294
Tokens
You forgot to put Democratic Senator in your heading

Piece of shit Democrat
 

Active member
Handicapper
Joined
Jun 18, 2007
Messages
77,294
Tokens
DOxFxUhUEAADUws.jpg
 

Active member
Handicapper
Joined
Jun 18, 2007
Messages
77,294
Tokens
Democrat perverted bastard
 

Active member
Handicapper
Joined
Jun 18, 2007
Messages
77,294
Tokens
DOxDkXRUIAAOsxy.jpg
 

Active member
Handicapper
Joined
Jun 18, 2007
Messages
77,294
Tokens
Resign you sleezy Democratic pervert
 

Conservatives, Patriots & Huskies return to glory
Handicapper
Joined
Sep 9, 2005
Messages
85,743
Tokens
Senator Al Franken Kissed and Groped Me Without My Consent, And There’s Nothing Funny About It

By Leeann Tweeden
In December of 2006, I embarked on my ninth USO Tour to entertain our troops, my eighth to the Middle East since the 9/11 attacks. My father served in Vietnam and my then-boyfriend(and now husband, Chris) is a pilot in the Air Force, so bringing a ‘little piece of home’ to servicemembers stationed far away from their families was both my passion and my privilege.

Also on the trip were country music artists Darryl Worley, Mark Wills, Keni Thomas, and some cheerleaders from the Dallas Cowboys. The headliner was comedian and now-senator, Al Franken.

Franken had written some skits for the show and brought props and costumes to go along with them. Like many USO shows before and since, the skits were full of sexual innuendo geared toward a young, male audience.

As a TV host and sports broadcaster, as well as a model familiar to the audience from the covers of FHM, Maxim and Playboy, I was only expecting to emcee and introduce the acts, but Franken said he had written a part for me that he thought would be funny, and I agreed to play along.

When I saw the script, Franken had written a moment when his character comes at me for a ‘kiss’. I suspected what he was after, but I figured I could turn my head at the last minute, or put my hand over his mouth, to get more laughs from the crowd.

On the day of the show Franken and I were alone backstage going over our lines one last time. He said to me, “We need to rehearse the kiss.” I laughed and ignored him. Then he said it again. I said something like, ‘Relax Al, this isn’t SNL…we don’t need to rehearse the kiss.’

He continued to insist, and I was beginning to get uncomfortable.

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.

I immediately pushed him away with both of my hands against his chest and told him if he ever did that to me again I wouldn’t be so nice about it the next time.
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.

Not long after, I performed the skit as written, carefully turning my head so he couldn’t kiss me on the lips.

No one saw what happened backstage. I didn’t tell the Sergeant Major of the Army, who was the sponsor of the tour. I didn’t tell our USO rep what happened.

At the time I didn’t want to cause trouble. We were in the middle of a war zone, it was the first show of our Holiday tour, I was a professional, and I could take care of myself. I told a few of the others on the tour what Franken had done and they knew how I felt about it.

I tried to let it go, but I was angry.

Other than our dialogue on stage, I never had a voluntary conversation with Al Franken again. I avoided him as much as possible and made sure I was never alone with him again for the rest of the tour.
Franken repaid me with petty insults, including drawing devil horns on at least one of the headshots I was autographing for the troops.

But he didn’t stop there.

The tour wrapped and on Christmas Eve we began the 36-hour trip home to L.A. After 2 weeks of grueling travel and performing I was exhausted. When our C-17 cargo plane took off from Afghanistan I immediately fell asleep, even though I was still wearing my flak vest and Kevlar helmet.

It wasn’t until I was back in the US and looking through the CD of photos we were given by the photographer that I saw this one:
I couldn’t believe it. He groped me, without my consent, while I was asleep.

I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated.

How dare anyone grab my breasts like this and think it’s funny?

I told my husband everything that happened and showed him the picture.

I wanted to shout my story to the world with a megaphone to anyone who would listen, but even as angry as I was, I was worried about the potential backlash and damage going public might have on my career as a broadcaster.
But that was then, this is now. I’m no longer afraid.

Today, I am the news anchor on McIntyre in the Morning on KABC Radio in Los Angeles. My colleagues are some of the most supportive people I’ve ever worked with in my career. Like everyone in the media, we’ve been reporting on the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct allegations since they broke, and the flood of similar stories that have come out about others.

A few weeks ago, we had California Congresswoman Jackie Speier on the show and she told us her story of being sexually assaulted when she was a young Congressional aide. She described how a powerful man in the office where she worked ‘held her face, kissed her and stuck his tongue in her mouth.’

At that moment, I thought to myself, Al Franken did that exact same thing to me.

I had locked up those memories of helplessness and violation for a long time, but they all came rushing back to me and my hands clinched into fists like it was yesterday.
I’m still angry at what Al Franken did to me.

Every time I hear his voice or see his face, I am angry. I am angry that I did his stupid skit for the rest of that tour. I am angry that I didn’t call him out in front of everyone when I had the microphone in my hand every night after that. I wanted to. But I didn’t want to rock the boat. I was there to entertain the troops and make sure they forgot about where they were for a few hours. Someday, I thought to myself, I would tell my story.
That day is now.

Senator Franken, you wrote the script. But there’s nothing funny about sexual assault.

You wrote the scene that would include you kissing me and then relentlessly badgered me into ‘rehearsing’ the kiss with you backstage when we were alone.

You knew exactly what you were doing. You forcibly kissed me without my consent, grabbed my breasts while I wassleeping and had someone take a photo of you doing it, knowing I would see it later, and be ashamed.
While debating whether or not to go public, I even thought to myself, so much worse has happened to so many others, maybe my story isn’t worth telling? But my story is worth telling.

Not just because 2017 is not 2006, or because I am much more secure in my career now than I was then, and not because I’m still angry.
I’m telling my story because there may be others.

I want to have the same effect on them that Congresswoman Jackie Speier had on me. I want them, and all the other victims of sexual assault, to be able to speak out immediately, and not keep their stories –and their anger– locked up inside for years, or decades.

I want the days of silence to be over forever.
Leeann Tweeden is morning news anchor on TalkRadio 790 KABC in Los Angeles








 

Conservatives, Patriots & Huskies return to glory
Handicapper
Joined
Sep 9, 2005
Messages
85,743
Tokens
^^^^^^^

can't leave out her story, that shows how despicable the scumbag is

real evidence, real eyewitnesses and definitely a real victim



"wait until Al Franken questions Jeff Sessions" :):):):):):):):)

I'm beginning to think duuuuuufinch might be a mush for the democrats

As I said at the time, Jeff Sessions, a man of honor and integrity, laughs at scumbags like Al Franken, and I didn't see this coming

Drain the swamp
 

Conservatives, Patriots & Huskies return to glory
Handicapper
Joined
Sep 9, 2005
Messages
85,743
Tokens
DOxFxUhUEAADUws.jpg



he made unwanted advances towards her, she rejected him, and then while she's sleeping he gropes her

priceless
 

Active member
Handicapper
Joined
Jun 18, 2007
Messages
77,294
Tokens
Picture tells the story.

No choice but to resign.

He'll be out within hours
 

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2006
Messages
25,904
Tokens
Stuart fucking Little

Another POS Dem

At least he's not queer

Resign resign resign piece of shit
 

New member
Joined
Nov 10, 2010
Messages
78,682
Tokens
466B5B4300000578-5089713-image-a-15_1510848759646.jpg

+10





Leeann Tweeden says she's still angry at Sen. Franken, and has found the courage to speak about her experience because of other women who have described similar mistreatment at the hands of powerful men



 

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2006
Messages
25,904
Tokens
Bwaaaaa. Haaaaaaa. Haaaaaaa.

Bet they don't even ask for his resignation
 

New member
Joined
Nov 10, 2010
Messages
78,682
Tokens
466B713000000578-5089713-image-a-17_1510849922810.jpg

+10





In this screen grab from a video shot during the USO tour, Franken (center-right) leers at Tweeden (center) as she signs autographs



 

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2006
Messages
25,904
Tokens
She is/was a smoke show nonetheless
 

New member
Joined
Nov 10, 2010
Messages
78,682
Tokens
The dirty bastard

466B897D00000578-5089713-image-m-31_1510851281812.jpg

+10





Stage antics? Franken holds up a piece of women's lingerie as Tweeden looks offstage during one USO routine in an unknown setting



 

New member
Joined
Nov 10, 2010
Messages
78,682
Tokens
Filthy swine


466B4D4300000578-5089713-image-a-16_1510849790179.jpg

+10





Frnaken has been a reliably liberal senator from a deep-blue state, posing a problem for Democrats who will have to decide how hard to come down on him



 

New member
Joined
Nov 10, 2010
Messages
78,682
Tokens
Tweeden was discovered In 1992, working as a hostess at a Hooters restaurant in Colorado, going on to be a Hooters calendar girl and win the Venus International Model Search; she has appeared as a host on Fitness Beach and Poker After Dark, and as a correspondent for Fox Sports Net's 'Best Damn Sports Show Period.' She has also done Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pre- and post-game coverage on Fox Sports West; later, at age 38, she posed naked in a Playboy pictorial

466B5B3300000578-5089713-image-m-27_1510850489432.jpg
466B5B3B00000578-5089713-image-a-28_1510850515127.jpg
 

New member
Joined
Nov 10, 2010
Messages
78,682
Tokens
photo.jpg



466B69D800000578-5089713-image-a-18_1510849928852.jpg

+10





Reacting to the Harvey Weinsten sex-abuse saga, Franken himself wrote last month that 'the disappointing responses women often face when they go public both embolden harassers and encourage victims to stay silent'


photo.jpg
 

Forum statistics

Threads
1,108,266
Messages
13,450,085
Members
99,404
Latest member
byen17188
The RX is the sports betting industry's leading information portal for bonuses, picks, and sportsbook reviews. Find the best deals offered by a sportsbook in your state and browse our free picks section.FacebookTwitterInstagramContact Usforum@therx.com