Stephen Colbert blasts Al Franken's initial apology after sexual misconduct allegation

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November 17, 2017 3:23 PM

"That photo was intended to embarrass her," Stephen Colbert said to Al Franken.

Stephen Colbert slammed Senator Al Franken's apology to radio news anchor Leann Tweeden.
Tweeden accused Franken of groping her and kissing her without her consent during a USO tour in 2006.

Stephen Colbert called out Senator Al Franken's initial apology to radio news anchor Leann Tweeden — who accused him of sexually harassing her during a USO tour in 2006 — in his opening monologue on "The Late Show" Thursday night.

Colbert slammed Franken for saying that a photo he had taken with Tweeden (where she is asleep and he appears to be groping her) was "intended to be funny but wasn't."

“OK, ‘intended to be funny but wasn’t?'” Colbert said. “No, your movie ‘Stuart Saves His Family’ was intended to be funny but wasn’t. That photo was intended to embarrass her. That’s why he did it while she was asleep. Nobody goes up to their buddy when he’s awake and says, ‘Hey, can I draw a penis on your forehead?’”

In an article published on KABC radio's website, Tweeden accused Franken of aggressively kissing her without her consent during a rehearsal for a sketch on the USO tour. Tweeden also alleged that the senator groped her without her consent while she was asleep, and shared a photograph documenting the incident.

Franken has since released a second, lengthier statement, saying that when he looks at the photo of himself and Tweeden, he feels "disgusted" and that it was "completely inappropriate."

Franken has also asked that an ethics committee investigation be undertaken, and has said that he will happily cooperate.

You can watch Colbert's monologue in full here:

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