Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah light into Al Franken, America's latest 'high-profile sexual harasser'

Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah light into Al Franken
(Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/The Late Show, The Daily Show)

"Every day it seems like we find out about another high-profile sexual harasser," Stephen Colbert sighed on Thursday's Late Show, running through the day's allegations against Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.). "Come on, Franken! I guess there are no good people left, so let's just get it over with: Just tell us whatever you did, Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, Tom Hanks, Malala. As a fellow comedian, I've long admired Al Franken, but I've got to say, this doesn't bode well for Louis C.K.'s Senate hopes."

During a 2006 USO tour, Leeann Tweeden says, Franken wrote a kiss with her into a skit, insisted they rehearse it, then forcibly kissed her. "Now for those of you not in showbiz, actors call that technique sexual harassment," Colbert said. He was similarly unimpressed with the posed photo of Franken reaching to grab Tweeden's breasts while she's asleep, and Franken's initial response: "'Intended to be funny but wasn't'? No, your movie Stuart Saves His Family was intended to be funny but wasn't."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.