Sarah Silverman has had a difficult time reconciling her affection for Al Franken and Louis C.K. with their respective sexual misconduct scandals, but she genuinely believes they both deserve a second chance.
“I think that there are people who were caught and there were people who were not caught, but the important thing is that they are forever changed. And if that’s the case, I don’t see any reason why they can’t continue being artists. Now, whether they’re popular artists or not is up to the audience,” Silverman, 47, told GQ in a profile published Wednesday.
“I have compassion. There are people that just deny everything they’re accused of and they continue to be the politicians or the filmmakers that they are. And there are people that come and say, ‘I’m guilty of these things, and I’m wrong, and I want to be changed from this.’ And yet those are the ones that kind of are excommunicated forever,” she said. “People are very sure about what is right and wrong until it comes to their front door.”
Of C.K., 50, specifically, she added, “He’s my brother, so it’s hard. I may not have a very clear perspective on it, but I’m trying to.”
In November 2017, C.K. confessed to masturbating in front of several women, some of whom he worked with.
That same month, former Playboy model Leann Tweeden accused former “Saturday Night Live” star Franken, 67, of groping her during a USO tour.
More allegations from other women followed and Franken left the Senate that December, a decision that Silverman insists Franken was “bullied” into making.
Silverman took the news particularly hard, having been close with Franken and his family for years.
“He and [his wife] Franni are devastated. I understand that I may have cognitive distortion, because I love him so much. But all I can say is — and he may not be excited about this — but he has no sexuality,” she cracked. “I believe in my heart of heart of hearts he never copped a feel. The sketch, the whole Leeann Tweeden sketch, is online. You can see it for yourself. It’s not funny, but it’s innocuous. He may have touched some sideboob by accident, or a tush by accident, but I’m telling you, Franni is his best friend and constant companion, and he has eyes for no one else.”
She said that the proof was in the pudding from Franken’s appearance on her own show, “I Love You, America,” in October 2017.
“You saw him kiss me on the lips [in the segment],” she said. “There is nothing sexual about it. He’s a Jewish grandpa. He gives you big, Jewish, wet-lipped kisses. This is a guy whose passion was serving people and making the world a better place.”
Silverman also gave her two cents about the sexual misconduct allegations made against Aziz Ansari.
In January, Babe.net published the account of a Brooklyn photographer who claimed Ansari ignored numerous cues she “wasn’t interested” in getting physical, before proceeding anyway. The comedian has stated that he believed what happened was consensual.
“I was just like, ‘Gross, I don’t wanna know that about Aziz,’ ” she said. “Hopefully he’s dealing with things, looking inward, and will blossom from it.”