In early 2018, five women came out with claims against James Franco. That year, the actor had just won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical following his performance in The Disaster Artist. It "was like a slap in my face," said one of the accusers and Franco's former acting student, Sarah Tither-Kaplan. Four years later, it seems like the Spider-Man star has been "uncanceled" and is now making a comeback.
James Franco Admitted To Sleeping With His Acting Students
After staying silent for a while, Franco finally spoke out about the allegations in December 2021. "There were people who were upset with me and I needed to listen," he said of his hiatus during an interview with The Jess Cagle Show. "I've just been doing a lot of work and I guess I'm pretty confident in saying, four years? There were some issues that I had to deal with that were also related to addiction. And so I've really used my recovery background to kind of start examining this and changing who I was." The 127 Hours star also owned up to blurring the lines of consent when he was sleeping with his acting students.
"I suppose at the time my thinking was if it's consensual, OK," Franco explained. "Of course I knew, you know, talking to other people, other teachers or whatever, like, yeah, it's probably not a cool thing. At the time I was not clear-headed... so I guess it just comes down to, my criteria was, like, if this is consensual I think it's cool, we're all adults."
The actor also opened up about his alcohol and sex addiction, admitting that he "let a lot of people down" because of it. He said he'd cheated on "everyone" at the time. His sponsor then said that his infidelity and dishonesty could make it all worse. However, they weren't worried about "whatever happens between two consenting adults" when he was single. The actor confessed that he used it as "an excuse to just hook up all over the place."
James Franco Settled His Sexual Misconduct Lawsuit For $2.2 Million
In February 2021, the accusers dropped their claims against Franco. Four months later, both parties reached an agreement that required the actor to pay a settlement of $2,235,000. The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the settlement includes a statement that reads: "While defendants continue to deny the allegations in the complaint, they acknowledge that plaintiffs have raised important issues; and all parties strongly believe that now is a critical time to focus on addressing the mistreatment of women in Hollywood. All agree on the need to make sure that no one in the entertainment industry — regardless of race, religion, disability, ethnicity, background, gender or sexual orientation — faces discrimination, harassment or prejudice of any kind."
Franco initially denied the accusations. Back then, his attorney said: "James will not only fully defend himself, but will also seek damages from the plaintiffs and their attorneys for filing this scurrilous publicity seeking lawsuit." Plaintiffs, Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal represented 100 former students of the actor's New York- and Los Angeles-based acting school, Studio 4. They alleged the school of "[creating] a steady stream of young women to objectify and exploit," as well as "[circumventing] California's 'pay for play' regulations."
The complaint also involved a class called Sex Scenes. According to the alleged victims, students were required to audition and pay and extra $750 for the said lessons. Tither-Kaplan thought it was a professional acting class. But later, she discovered that the class actually asked students to "get naked and do sex scenes and not complain and push the envelope." Franco later defended the class, telling The Jess Cagle Show that it should have been called a "contemporary romance" class.
James Franco Is Currently Working On A New Film
Recently, Deadline reported that Franco is playing the titular role in the upcoming action thriller, Mace. Directed by The Singing Detective creator Jon Amiel, The Interview star will play a "veteran officer, corrupt and dangerously unhinged." It's set to launch in Cannes later this May 2022. "We are thrilled to be returning to Cannes with this highly original and unique film," said Myriad Pictures CEO Kirk D'Amico. "It is a gritty story set in a modern-day police department where nothing is what it seems. We think that this material in the hands of such an experienced director as Jon Amiel will yield extraordinary results."
It's a new chapter for Franco who's already been dropped by his longtime collaborator, Seth Rogen. "What I can say is that I despise abuse and harassment and I would never cover or conceal the actions of someone doing it, or knowingly put someone in a situation where they were around someone like that," the latter told The Sunday Times in May 2021. He also vowed never to work with his former best friend. So it might take time for Franco to break into mainstream comedies again. But later that year, he clarified that he has no hard feelings towards Rogen.
"I just want to say, I absolutely love Seth Rogen. I love Seth Rogen," he told Cagle. "I worked with him for 20 years and we didn't have one fight. For 20 years, not one fight. He was my absolute closest work friend, collaborator. We just gelled… What he said is true. We aren't working together right now and we don’t have any plans to work together. Of course, it was hurtful in context, but I get it, you know, he had to answer for me because I was silent. He had to answer for me and I don't want that. And so that’s why, you know, it's one of the main reasons I wanted to talk to you today is I just, I don't want Seth or my brother [Dave Franco] or anyone to have to answer for me anymore."
