Al Franken's Female 'SNL' Colleagues Wrote a Letter to 'Stand Up' for Him
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Less than a week after Lena Dunham had to apologize for defending Girls writer Murray Miller against accusations of sexual assault, 36 women from former Saturday Night Live casts have written a letter in support of senator Al Franken.
The senator and SNL alum was accused of alleged sexual harassment and groping by radio host Leeann Tweeden last week, who also shared a photo of Franken grinning while groping her. A few days later another woman, Lindsay Menz, came forward claiming he grabbed her at a state fair during a photo, including a picture of the alleged exchange. Franken has since apologized to Tweeden and called for an ethics investigation, while telling CNN he does not recall the incident with Menz but feels bad about her feeling "disrespected."
Now the senator's female colleagues from SNL have written a letter supporting him, saying he never sexually harassed them and applauding him for his apology to Tweeden. It reads:
We feel compelled to stand up for Al Franken, whom we have all had the pleasure of working with over the years on Saturday Night Live (SNL).
What Al did was stupid and foolish, and we think it was appropriate for him to apologize to Ms. Tweeden, and to the public. In our experience, we know Al as a devoted and dedicated family man, a wonderful comedic performer, and an honorable public servant. That is why we are moved to quickly and directly affirm that after years of working with him, we would like to acknowledge that not one of us ever experienced any inappropriate behavior; and mention our sincere appreciation that he treated each of us with the utmost respect and regard.
We send our support and gratitude to Al and his family this Thanksgiving and holiday season.
The letter is signed by 36 women who include former SNL writers, production assistants, producers, and cast members. Although NBC made the letter public on Monday morning, it's already been harshly criticized. Twitter users have particularly zoomed in on the section about "inappropriate behavior," saying that Franken not harassing his colleagues doesn't preclude him from harassing someone else. Others have compared the letter to Dunham's defense of Miller and the slew of female Fox News anchors who defended Roger Ailes, who resigned following allegations of sexual harassment.
This story originally appeared on Glamour.
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