'SNL' chastises alum Al Franken over sexual misconduct during 'Weekend Update'

Bill Keveney | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Chance the Rapper, Eminem a hit on Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live didn't shy away from controversy despite being loaded with big names like Chance the Rapper and Eminem. Front and center: Trump's sons, Wikileaks and Al Franken.

Al Franken's Saturday Night Live alumni status didn't get him a pass on Saturday's "Weekend Update" newscast.

However, if you were hoping the Minnesota senator would be played by an SNL impersonator and skewered in a sketch, you were disappointed. Criticism was confined to "Update."

Anchor Colin Jost opened the fictional newscast by criticizing Franken, the latest prominent man to be accused of sexual misconduct. Franken has apologized to Los Angeles broadcaster Leeann Tweeden who this week accused him of kissing and groping her without her consent during a 2006 USO tour before he was a senator.

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With so many men being accused of sexual harassment and assault these days, Jost opened the segment with this line: "Thursday is Thanksgiving and there's so much to be thankful for this year, unless you're a human woman."

He then criticized Franken, sternly but not overly harshly, as a now-famous picture of the comedian appearing to grope a sleeping Tweeden appeared on the screen.

Backstage with the World's Sexiest Joke Writer. #ChanceOnSNL pic.twitter.com/oHXsh7BuVw — Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) November 19, 2017

"I know this photo looks bad, but remember: It also is bad," Jost said. "And, sure, this was taken before he ran for public office, but it was also taken after he was a sophomore in high school. It's pretty hard to be like, 'Oh, come on. He didn't know any better. He was only 55.' "

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Anchor Michael Che followed by noting the Twitter criticism of Franken by President Trump, who also has been accused of sexual misconduct.

"And without even looking, you can bet that President Trump called out Al Franken and not (Alabama Republican Senate nominee) Roy Moore, who's accused of way worse, by the way, but Franken is a liberal and Trump and Moore are conservatives and in this country everybody has to pick a side. Except for me. I think they're all ...," said Che, finishing with an unprintable and definitely pejorative term.

Che and Jost closed out what seems to be turning into a regular rogue's gallery segment with references to two others who have been accused of misconduct: musician R. Kelly and actor Jeremy Piven.