Seth Meyers Calls Out Fellow ‘Saturday Night Live’ Alum Al Franken After Sexual Abuse Allegations
It has been a rough week for straight, white male late night hosts this week. Not only did they have to cover sexual abuse allegations against fellow comedian Louis C.K., but now they had to take on coverage of sexual abuse allegations against Democratic senator Al Franken. Seth Meyers seemed to follow in the footsteps of Al Franken at Saturday Night Live, but it was time for him to take on all of these allegations last night on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Franken was a legendary comedy writer at Saturday Night Live before becoming a senator. On Thursday, a Los Angeles-based radio anchor accused Franken of groping and sexual assaulting her while on a USO tour in 2006. This was just the latest sexual abuse accusation to come out, so the host of NBC’s Late Night decided to tackle the issue head-on Thursday night. In the segment, Meyers said, “The avalanche of sexual harassment allegations in the last few weeks have shown us that predatory behavior is everywhere, in virtually every aspect of society, in the news business, in entertainment and in politics.”
In the segment called “A Closer Look,” Meyers talked about the plethora of sexual abuse allegations that have come out, which includes accusations made against people working in the halls of Congress. Meyers joked, “I’d say Congress is full of dicks, but most of them look more like ball sacks.”
While the focus has been on Roy Moore and the allegations made against him, as he runs for a seat in the senate for Alabama, Meyers talked about how “this is not a partisan problem.” That is evident, as The Daily Beast mentioned when the allegations against Franken came out.
Of course, the allegations against Sen. Al Franken include photographic proof, as Leeann Tweeden shared a photo on her Twitter account of Franken groping her while she was asleep. After sharing the photo on Late Night, Meyers said “that is horrifying.” While Franken said it was a joke during the USO tour in 2006, Meyers was not seeing it as a joke. He asked viewers, “Honestly, who could blame women if they started wearing military gear whenever they are around men?”
I’ve decided it’s time to tell my story. #MeToohttps://t.co/TqTgfvzkZg
— Leeann Tweeden (@LeeannTweeden) November 16, 2017
Meyers went on to say that “everyone should be held accountable” for their actions, which he included Franken, Roy Moore, Bill Clinton, and even our current president, Donald Trump. From there, the rest of the segment seemed to focus on Moore, the Alabama GOP Senate candidate.
At the end of the segment, Meyers did bring it back to center and made the larger point he was trying to make.
“This is a society-wide problem, born out of systemic misogyny and abuse of power. And both parties need to take it seriously, no matter who’s accused.”
Check out “A Closer Look” on Late Night with Seth Meyers below.
[Featured Image by Lloyd Bishop/NBC]
