--- ---  # Stephen Colbert Is Having Absolutely None of Al Franken’s Apology by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Nov 17, 2017 4:00 PM UTC  by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Nov 17, 2017 4:00 PM UTC Stephen Colbert is not impressed with Minnesota [Sen. Al Franken](http://time.com/5028287/elizabeth-warren-al-franken/?iid=sr-link8)’s apology to Leeanne Tweeden after she accused Franken of sexually harassing her during a USO Tour in 2006, and taking a photo showing [Franken groping](http://time.com/5027406/al-franken-groping-allegations-congress/?iid=sr-link9) her while she slept. Franken apologized, stating that the photo was meant to be funny. “O.K., ‘intended to be funny but wasn’t?’’ said Colbert on Thursday’s _The Late Show_. “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?’” While Franken later issued a [more comprehensive apology](http://time.com/5028391/al-franken-statement/?iid=sr-link6), it still wasn’t enough for Colbert. “Franken later released a more complete apology, in which he said, ‘I am asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken, and I will gladly cooperate,’” said Colbert. “Well, that’s nice. It would be wrong if [an ethics investigation](http://time.com/5028164/al-franken-groping-ethics-committee-investigation-leann-tweeden/?iid=sr-link4) was done without his consent.” For Colbert, the charges against Franken – a former comedy writer – seemed to hit hard. “I guess there are no good people left,” said Colbert. “So let’s just get it over with. Just tell us whatever you did, Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, Tom Hanks — Malala.” Stephen Colbert Is Not Having Al Franken’s Apology ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5029186/stephen-colbert-on-al-franken/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5029186/stephen-colbert-on-al-franken/"},"headline":"Stephen Colbert Is Having Absolutely None of Al Franken’s Apology","datePublished":"2017-11-17T16:00:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:48:52.392Z","description":"“I guess there are no good people left,\" said Colbert. \"Just tell us whatever you did, Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, Tom Hanks — Malala.”","url":"https://time.com/5029186/stephen-colbert-on-al-franken/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","stephen colbert","sexual harassment","al franken","late show with stephen colbert","Late Night Comedy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03060c1cda338048/6988e6498fd2eec4b4359b03/colbert1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03060c1cda338048/6988e6498fd2eec4b4359b03/colbert1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Colbert","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5029186/stephen-colbert-on-al-franken/","name":"Stephen Colbert Is Having Absolutely None of Al Franken’s Apology"}}]}] ```