Sen. Al Franken has been edited out of an upcoming PBS special honoring David Letterman following allegations of sexual harassment.
"PBS will air an updated 'David Letterman: The Mark Twain Prize' on Monday," the network said in a statement. "Sen. Al Franken participated in the event, but will not appear substantially in the PBS program.
"PBS and WETA, the producing station, felt that the inclusion of Sen. Franken in the broadcast at this time would distract from the show's purpose as a celebration of American humor."
The special, scheduled to air at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) Monday, was shot last month at Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center. In his tribute, Franken thanked Letterman for a series of videos he and the former late night host recorded together to raise awareness about climate change.
Last week, Los Angeles radio show anchor Leeann Tweeden accused the Democratic senator from Minnesota of kissing and groping her without her consent in 2006.
Tweeden, an anchor on "McIntyre in the Morning," outlined her experiences with Franken in an essay on KABC's website, detailing Franken's insistence on rehearsing a kiss for a comedy skit.
"We did the line leading up to the kiss and then he 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," wrote Tweeden. After walking away, Tweeden says she felt "disgusted and violated."
The anchor also shared a photo of the senator posing with his hands over her chest during a USO tour to entertain troops in the Middle East.
Shortly after the post, Franken released a statement offering his "sincerest apologies to Leeann."
"As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn't," he wrote. "I shouldn't have done it."
He released a follow-up statement later asking for an ethics investigation that he vowed to cooperate with.
