Franken Exposed on Rogue Hollywood Billboard

Al Franken has hit it big in Hollywood before, but arguably never this big.  The Minnesota senator popped up on a huge billboard along the 405 freeway just in time for early morning rush hour.

But it’s hardly the sort of “exposure” the ex-funny man was looking for on the day a fifth woman came forward to accuse the beleaguered politician of groping her. The Hollywood Reporter said the artwork had all the features of a conservative street artist named Sabo.

A giant image of Sen. Al Franken grabbing at a half-naked woman greeted rush-hour commuters on a packed Los Angeles freeway early Thursday.

The billboard came courtesy of Sabo, a conservative street artist known for skewering Hollywood with fake advertisements aimed at celebrities.

This time, Sabo went further by hijacking an actual billboard, bought and paid for by 20th Century Fox to advertise The Greatest Showman, which opens Dec. 20 and stars Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron.

Sen. Franken continues to stonewall any suggestion he resign. But the lurid billboard suggests the accusations against Franken, along with the embarrassment to his constituents and state, have taken hold even in friendly territory like Hollywood.

Before the sun rose in the morning, Sabo plastered on one half of the sign a giant version of the infamous photo of Al Franken groping radio host Leeann Tweeden. On the billboard, Sabo made it appear as if Franken is trying to grab Zendaya as she flies through the air dressed in a sexy trapeze outfit.

Fox’s original billboard has Zendaya flying into the waiting arms of Efron, whose image is across the street on another billboard. That one was not altered as of yet.

“Efron wanted to catch her, but Franken got there first, I guess,” Sabo told The Hollywood Reporteron Thursday, adding that the alteration is temporary and doesn’t ruin the original billboard. “I don’t need that kind of hell raining down on me.”

Franken got reelected largely by staying out of the headlines and keeping a low profile. But now Franken has undone years of careful image management by reminding many Minnesotans of why they never liked or trusted him in the first place.