Last Night on Late Night

Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and Trevor Noah Don’t Spare Al Franken

The allegations against the senator (and ex-comedian) are “horrifying”—and “this does not bode well for Louis C.K.’s Senate hopes.”

“As a fellow comedian, I long admired Al Franken,” admitted Stephen Colbert Thursday night. “But I’ve got to say, this does not bode well for Louis C.K.’s Senate hopes.”

That joke perfectly encapsulates the past six weeks in which allegations of sexual misconduct have poured out institution from Hollywood to Washington. Franken, the Minnesota senator who was accused Thursday of forcibly kissing a woman and placing his hands on her breasts without her consent while she was asleep in a flak jacket, has already apologized—but his situation proves further that sexual misconduct is not a partisan issue. And even though Franken, a former Saturday Night Live writer and star, is an elder statesman of comedy, late-night comedians did not hold back from tearing into him.

While on a U.S.O. tour, Franken allegedly wrote a sketch in which he got to kiss his fellow M.C., Leann Tweeden. During rehearsal, Tweeden says that Franken put his hand behind her head, “mashed” his lips against hers, and “aggressively stuck his tongue in [her] mouth.”

“For those of you not in showbiz, actors call that technique ‘sexual harassment,’ ” Colbert said. “And it didn’t stop there.” After displaying a photo taken later in which Franken placed his hands over Tweeden’s breasts while she was asleep, Colbert said, “Oh boy, that is admissible evidence. So this is bad.”

Franken’s initial statement about the allegation was brief: “I certainly don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann. As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn’t. I shouldn’t have done it.” (Franken’s office did not respond to V.F.’s request for comment at the time.)

“Intended to be funny but wasn’t?” Colbert said. “No. Your movie Stuart Saves His Family was intended to be funny but wasn’t. That photo was intended to embarrass her. That’s why he did it while she was asleep. Nobody goes up to their buddy when he’s awake and says, ‘Hey, can I draw a penis on your forehead?’ ”

Shortly after his first apology, Franken responded to criticism that it was insufficient by releasing a longer statement and agreeing to cooperate with an ethics investigation. “Well that’s nice,” Colbert sneered. “It would be wrong if an ethics investigation was done without his consent.”

Still, as Trevor Noah noted on *Daily Show, “At least [Franken] apologized—and that apology seems sincere. . . But you know, this story is another example of how, at all levels, we men have been complicit in perpetuating the culture that devalues women. I don’t care who you are: Democrat, Republican, black, white, rich, poor. Men. Because you forget, it’s not just Al Franken in the picture. It’s the guy who’s taking the picture. His Billy Bush. Who’s that guy?”