Al Franken: Hollywood Weighs In On Resignation; Tom Arnold Says Franken Accuser Was “Manipulated”

Greg Evans
Updated

With beleaguered Sen. Al Franken answering the will-he-won’t-he question — he did — today at 11:45 am ET, Hollywood seems more divided over the issue than even Franken’s Senate compadres. While a critical mass of fellow Democrats demanded Franken’s resignation, some celebrities and TV pundits aren’t so sure.

“Franken bullied out of office,” tweeted playwright Eric Bogosian, adding, “Democrats eat their young.” Billy Baldwin, meanwhile, tweeted a list of harassers from Hollywood, the media and the Democratic Party who’ve lost their jobs, while Trump and Moore remain standing. “The GOP is a disgrace,” he wrote.

“I hope this is fake news,” tweeted Rosie O’Donnell, in all caps, about Franken’s expected resignation earlier. Said singer-turned-activist Clay Aiken, “Democrats are sitting there in the Senate thinking that by forcing Franken to resign, they are taking a stand and showing Democrats have a zero tolerance for sexual harassment. That will NOT be the lesson learned here.”

See all tweets below.

“The Dems are always ready to dump one of their own,” tweeted Bette Midler. “The GOP stand behind every child molester and every harasser, including POTUS. As unpleasant as it is to face, that’s political suicide.”

But none of the comments are as pointed (or lengthy) as a string of tweets by actor Tom Arnold, who says that his friend Leeann Tweeden – the first of Franken’s accusers, whose photo of Franken smirkingly miming a breast grope – has been “manipulated” by Roger Stone, among others, for political purposes, and that he has proof that Tweeden’s story was used as “part of a larger smear campaign against Franken. “It’s a disservice to victims,” Arnold tweeted, using the #MeToo hashtag (Arnold has said he was molested as a child).

After first Arnold suggested that Tweeden was somehow in on the Stone plan, but then tweeted that he had spoken to Tweeden and that she did not know the “people with bad intentions” who got involved in the reveal of her claims. (See Arnold’s tweets at bottom of this post).

Here’s a sampling of Hollywood & Beltway opinions on Franken’s resignation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related stories

White House: Dry Throat Caused Donald Trump Word Slurring; Exam Scheduled

Al Franken Announces Resignation From U.S. Senate, Blasting Donald Trump, Roy Moore On Way Out

Stephen Colbert Mocks Dem Senators' Sudden Pile-On To Get Al Franken Out Of Office

Get more from Deadline.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter