From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. –Talk radio host Leeann Tweeden accused U. S. senator Al Franken of groping her and forcefully kissing her against her will. She also provided a photo in which Franken appeared to be groping her while she slept.
Tweeden said the incidents occurred when she was on a USO tour. She said the forced kiss came during rehearsal of a skit written by Franken.
“On the day of the show Franken and I were alone backstage going over our lines one last time,” Tweeden said. “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.’”
Tweeden said Franken continued to insist to the point that she became uncomfortable and finally relented.
“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 said.
According to Tweeden, she immediately pushed Franken away and told him to never do that again.
“I walked away,” Tweeden said. “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.”
She said he retaliated by insulting her throughout the rest of the tour.
Tweeden said the groping incident took place on the flight home. She said she wasn’t aware of happened until she returned home and was reviewing photos on a CD.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Tweeden said. “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.”
“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,” Tweeden said. “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.”
Franken apologized for the groping incident after the photo went viral, but said he didn’t remember the rehearsal the way Tweeden did.
“I certainly don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann,” said Franken. “As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn’t. I shouldn’t have done it.”