Here are some of the times Al Franken made off-color jokes over the years

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Senator Al Franken has been accused of unwanted groping and kissing by model and sportscaster Leeann Tweeden. She says Franken kissed her against her will.
USA TODAY

Long before Al Franken was a senator, he was a comedian.

And, unsurprisingly, that included off-color humor. He apologized for those jokes in 2008, as his campaign to represent Minnesota in the Senate waged on.

“The things I said and wrote sent a message to some of my friends in this room, and the people in this state, that they can’t count on me to be a champion for women and for all people of Minnesota in this campaign and in the Senate. I’m sorry for that,” he said during the 2008 Democratic-Farmer-Labor state convention.

Flash forward to 2017, when Franken is in the middle of his second Senate term — and has just been accused of kissing and groping a woman without her consent in 2006. Much like 2008, Franken has apologized for his actions, this time to broadcaster Leeann Tweeden, who made the allegations. 

More: Al Franken apologizes after accusations he kissed and groped broadcaster Leeann Tweeden without her consent

More: Read Al Franken’s apology to broadcaster Leeann Tweeden

In his apology, he described his comedic background.

“Coming from the world of comedy, I’ve told and written a lot of jokes that I once thought were funny but later came to realize were just plain offensive,” he said. “But the intentions behind my actions aren’t the point at all. It’s the impact these jokes had on others that matters. And I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to come to terms with that.”

What are those jokes? We list some below.

1. Franken cracks a joke about Rob Reiner and rape

Franken said during the roast of actor Reiner: “On a typical night, Carl would slip into Rob’s bed, roll him over, swab him down and say something like, ‘I’m thinking about hiring Morey Amsterdam to play Buddy Sorrell, what do you think?’ Well, the success of The Dick Van Dyke Show changed things dramatically. Carl started inviting many of his famous friends to f*** his son.”

2. Franken worked on an SNL skit that joked about raping journalists Lesley Stahl and Mike Wallace

During his time as a writer for Saturday Night Live, Franken worked on a skit parodying 60 Minutes’ Andy Rooney. And that included suggestions of portraying rape on screen.

The writing process is described in a 1995 New York magazine article:

Norm MacDonald: “So I can say, ‘I don’t know what the pills are for—what I do know is, the bottle is mostly filled with cotton.’”

Franken: “And, ‘I give the pills to Lesley Stahl. Then, when Lesley’s passed out, I take her to the closet and rape her.’ Or, ‘That’s why you never see Lesley until February.’ Or, ‘When she passes out, I put her in various positions and take pictures of her.’”

Jim Downey: “‘Here’s a picture of Ed Bradley.’”

MacDonald: “What if Rooney rapes Mike Wallace? And then says, ‘I guess that makes me bad.’ Is it funnier with a black guy? Or two old white guys?”

Franken: “What about, ‘I drag Mike into my office and rape him. Right here! I guess that makes me bad.’”

3. The time he wrote about pornography for Playboy

“The moment Playboy told me I could tackle any subject for its millennium issue, I immediately chose pornography. Now, you may assume I picked pornography because I believe Playboy is pornography. Far from it. Playboy is erotica,” he wrote.

The article goes on to describe sexual acts with robots and humans.

4. A photo of Franken holding Joy Behar’s breast surfaces

Behar said Thursday, “It was disappointing to hear this about Al Franken. I can’t back Al. He’s a very funny comedian, he was during this time. He’s a senator from Minnesota. He’s a great advocate for women. It’s just so disappointing. Men of all different stripes are out there doing crazy s***.”

More: Senate Democrats call for ethics investigation into allegations against Sen. Al Franken

More: NRCC calls for Democrats to return donations from Sen. Al Franken

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