Shaun KingVerified account

Al Franken is a brilliant comedic mind, a legendary satirist and a great Senator. He is also a pig. What he did to that woman isn’t comedy, it’s borderline assault and should be investigated. In the meantime he MUST resign.

He isn’t touching her in the photo. And she consented to the scene, even if she did have her own plan to avoid the kiss. What he did was absolutely wrong, but I’m not sure it was assault.

Stage kissing and stage combat both have established rules of engagement. You don’t grab the person’s head, you don’t control the other performer’s body. Any actor who has ever taken a combat class knows this. Al Franken was on SNL: he knew the rules of engagement.

That may be... and that memory is a she said/he said on the particulars of the engagement. Which is why I said I wasn’t sure. But so many people are claiming the pic is evidence of assault when it is not. Bad? Yes. Assault? No.

Yeah, it looks like he’s trying to mimic the Roger Rabbit coyote bit, groping the air, or doing a kind of “I’m not touching you” thing. Which is almost as gross. It was acceptable comedy in the 90s, but that doesn’t make it okay—and 2006 is well after the 90s.

But I’m inclined to believe a woman when she says a man took things too far. You don’t rehearse a kiss or a combat moment without someone there to both spot for Safety and to make sure everyone is being professional.

It doesn’t sound like he broke the law, because he established the context by writing a kissing scene and asking to rehearse it. But legal and gross are not mutually exclusive.

If he did* grab her head and force his tongue in her mouth, that’s assault; that’s why the stage combat rules are there—to keep you from assaulting your scene partner. * he probably did

Did he do this as a congressman or before he became a congressman. I'm not defending him. Just curious as to when. Not funny at all. I had so much respect for him and his politics.

This was before he was a congressman working as a comedian

I'm not saying that he did or didn't do this but if you don't see this for political hit job that it is you need new glasses.

There's a picture of him with his hands on her boobs while she's sleeping. If you can't see that for the proof that it is, you need new glasses.

That was some skit. Not real life. Still wrong but you should know

No, it wasn't the skit. The picture was taken on an airplane while Leeann was asleep. The skit didn't include being groped, it involved her turning her head away from a kiss. This is very wrong and it's very obvious and you're very gross for trying to defend him.

I defended him? You’re mistaken.

Bringing up the skit like that makes it better because it's scripted and liking the tweet of someone else who is clearly defending him. But yeah, not defending him. Generally, when you aren't defending someone, you don't say anything to try and lessen the gross things they did.