WASHINGTON: Dem­ocratic US Senator Al Fran­ken was forced on Thursday to apologise to a female radio host who accused the former comedian of groping her and kissing her without her consent in 2006.

Franken, who has served as senator to Minnesota since 2009, quickly issued a statement apologising to sports broadcaster and former model Leeann Tweeden, who said the inappropriate behaviour occurred when they were both on a tour entertaining US troops deployed in Afghanistan.

Tweeden said Franken, at the time a prominent comedian, writer and liberal talk radio host who had risen to fame on the satirical show Saturday Night Live, had written a sketch in which he was meant to kiss her on stage in front of the troops.

During rehearsals for the comedy turn, Tweeden said 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.”

The accusation came amid a surge of claims of sexual harassment levelled at senior male figures in the entertainment, media and political establishments, after Holl­ywood mogul Harvey Wein­stein was denounced for decades of sexual abuse.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2017