Sen. Al Franken canceled plans to appear at an Atlanta book festival hours after becoming embroiled in controversy following allegations of sexual misconduct.
He had been scheduled to appear at the Book Festival of the MJCCA. The event, promoting his book “Al Franken, Giant of the Senate,” was scheduled well before anyone could have imagined he’d be trending on Twitter for all the wrong reasons. The event had sold out.
Franken, a former “Saturday Night Live” cast member, authored several books and hosted a talk show on Air America before he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2009. Broadcaster Leeann Tweeden said she and Franken were both part of a USO tour that included a skit he wrote, during which they were to kiss. She had planned to rebuff him for comic effect, but he demanded they rehearse ahead of time, wrote in an public message posted on social media.
“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,” she wrote. Her post includes a photo of Franken making a lewd gesture next to her while she was asleep.
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