Getty TV personality Leeann Tweeden and husband Chris Dougherty arrive on the red carpet at the 2015 Cedars-Sinai Sports Spectacular at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza on May 31, 2015 in Century City, California.
Radio news personality Leeann Tweeden has accused Democratic Sen. Al Franken of kissing her against her will and groping her when the pair were on a visit overseas with United Service Organization.
Tweeden, who’s currently a news anchor for KABC in Los Angeles, wrote her story in a lengthy post to the radio station’s website Thursday. She said she met Franken in December 2006 prior to when he became a senator.
Tweeden said the two put on a show for the military members overseas, and it included a skit written by Franken, a former cast member on Saturday Night Live. Tweeden said that the skit involved a part where he kissed her. She described in detail that Franken insisted that the two rehearse the skit backstage prior to going in front of the military personnel.
“He said to me, ‘We need to rehearse the kiss,'” she wrote. “I laughed and ignored him. Then he said it again. I said something like, ‘Relax Al, this isn’t SNL…we don’t need to rehearse the kiss.'”
Eventually, she said that she agreed to rehearse a line leading up to the kiss. After the line, though, she alleges that Franken “came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth.”
Tweeden said that she pushed him away and let him know she “wouldn’t be so nice about it” if he ever did it again.
“I felt disgusted and violated,” she wrote.
In addition to the kiss, Tweeden posted a photo of Franken groping her while she appeared to be asleep on a military plane.
Franken addressed the allegations in a lengthy statement, apologizing to Tweeden and saying there was “no excuse” for his behavior.
Full statement from Sen. Franken. Notably, he asks that a Senate Ethics investigation “be undertaken” in light of sexual misconduct allegations.
Tweeden’s overseas trip with the USO wasn’t her last, as she continuously traveled to greet the military members. That’s also how she met her husband, Chris Dougherty. He served as a military pilot and met her through a mutual friend.
Here’s what you need to know about Tweeden and Dougherty:
1. Tweeden Met Dougherty Through an Air Force Member While She Was on a USO Tour
Tweeden told the story of how she met Dougherty to MilitarySpouse.com. The daughter of a retired Air Force chief mechanic, Tweeden had been involved with the military for some time, saying that her father “instilled a lot of pride in our country and for those that serve.”
Tweeden went on numerous USO tours beginning in 2002, where she met Tyler Thompson, who was the pilot of the C-130 she flew in during one of her trips. They became friends and stayed in contact, and Tweeden invited him to join her and her friends in Virginia in October 2004 when he returned back to U.S. soil. Tyler asked if he could bring a friend, too.
“I told him, ‘Yes, bring him; any friend of yours is a friend of ours,'” she told the military publication.
That friend was Dougherty, but they happened to both be in romantic relationships at the time. Within two months, though, that changed and they started dating.
On another trip overseas with the USO, she tried to meet up with Dougherty and Thompson where they were stationed. Sitting with comedian Robin Williams on a flight, she asked for assistance in finding the pair once they landed. Soon enough, she was greeted by a familiar face. It was Dougherty, and he was assigned to be the pilot for her and Williams.
As the two struck conversation, she said they discovered they were both single. After her trip, they kept in contact and started dating when he returned home from his deployment a few months later.
2. Tweeden & Dougherty Have 2 Children Together
After years of dating, Dougherty asked Tweeden to marry him in 2008. Their wedding was held in a private ceremony two years later on July 4, 2010.
The couple have a 4-year-old son (Kane) and 2-year-old daughter (Kaia) together. Nowadays, Dougherty has transitioned from active duty and is a pilot for the Air National Guard in California. Tweeden often posts photos of their family to her social media profiles, and they reportedly live in Los Angeles.
3. Dougherty Has an Extensive Military Background
According to his military profile, Dougherty currently serves as a pilot for the California Air National Guard and has an extensive background in education dating back to the mid-1990s. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in human factors engineering before getting deployed overseas. He also attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where he got his master’s degree in joint warfare in 2009. According to his profile, he also obtained a master’s degree in military arts and science from Air University in 2011.
Dougherty started working as an instructor pilot for the Air Force in 1996 and did so until 2006. He started working as a pilot for the California Air National Guard in 2010.
4. Tweeden & Dougherty Continue to Give Back to Military Personnel
According to the feature on Tweeden by MilitarySpouse.com, she continues to give back to the military to this day. Despite her busy schedule as a mother, model and radio personality, she still volunteers to speak at military bases across the country in addition to still making trips with the USO. Her and her husband also support the Boot Campaign, which provides programs for veterans and military families across the nation. She also makes visits to those wounded in action with the Wounded Warrior Project.
Upon sharing the news that Tweeden would be featured in the publication, some military members expressed excitement because of how genuine she’s been to them on her visits.
Navy Lieutenant Katie Easterly, who drove Tweeden around a military base on a visit, told the publication that she was “simply the most charming person.”
5. Tweeden Dated a Major League Baseball Pitcher Prior to Dougherty
Before starting a relationship with Dougherty, Tweeden was romantically linked to former World Series champion pitcher Josh Beckett. The couple dated for several months back in 2004 — Beckett was the man Tweeden was dating when she first met Dougherty — after meeting at Super Bowl 38 in Houston, Texas.
In an interview with FHM, Tweeden described — in great detail — her and Beckett’s sex life.
“My boyfriend knows how to hit the strike zone, he’s got a good change-up,” she told the publication. “We could go all day with this … he knows how to work the mound or the mounds.”
The interview reportedly “infuriated” Beckett, though, and the couple broke up shortly after the story was published in the magazine.