In a shocking accusation, journalist Leeann Tweeden of KABC news has revealed that Democratic Senator Al Franken kissed and groped her without permission.
Not only that, but there is photographic evidence.
Breaking: @LeeannTweeden, the morning anchor of KABC radio, says Senator Al Franken kissed and groped her without her consent. https://t.co/yNoQhZVNFJ
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) November 16, 2017
The photo in that tweet is pretty conclusive. She is asleep, he is grabbing her breasts. Here’s part of Tweeden’s account, which you can read in full here.
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.
Then, she explained the photo above:
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.
For those who don’t understand why someone might not report these allegations, this is why. However, as the number of accusations continues to grow against the big name and powerful people, more and more women now feel comfortable in reporting the abusive behavior.
Franken’s behavior is as repulsive as the rest of the behavior we’ve been hearing reports about from Hollywood to Washington D.C. and everywhere in between.
One hopes that Franken has the decency to apologize.
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