Actor James Franco has responded to allegations of sexual misconduct brought against him nearly four years ago, admitting that he slept with students at his acting school despite previously denying the accusations.
In an appearance on SiriusXM's "The Jess Cagle Podcast," Franco admitted that he did inappropriately sleep with his students at Studio 4.
"Over the course of my teaching, I did sleep with students, and that was wrong," he said on the podcast. "But like I said, it's not why I started the school and I wasn't the person that selected the people to be in the class. So it wasn't a 'master plan' on my part. But yes, there were certain instances where, you know what, I was in a consensual thing with a student and I shouldn't have been."
Franco added later: "At the time I was not clearheaded, as I've said. So I guess it just comes down to my criteria was like, 'If this is consensual, like, I think it's cool. We're all adults so….'"
He also tied his conduct at the time to sex addiction, which he says manifested following his becoming sober from alcohol.
"It's such a powerful drug," he said. "I got hooked on it for 20 more years. The insidious part of that is that I stayed sober from alcohol all that time. And I went to meetings all that time. I even tried to sponsor other people. So in my head, it was like, 'Oh, I'm sober. I'm living a spiritual life.' Where on the side, I'm acting out now in all these other ways, and I couldn't see it."
Franco was accused of sexual misconduct and abusing his power as an acting teacher and mentor by multiple women in 2018 in a Los Angeles Times article, as well as a lawsuit that followed in 2019. The various accusations included inappropriate behavior on film sets, exposing himself without consent, removing safety guards during an oral sex scene on a film set, and using his position of power to solicit sexual favors from students. He had previously been accused in 2014 of messaging a 17-year-old on Instagram and suggesting they should get a hotel room together.
At the time the accusations were brought forward, Franco denied them both publicly and via an attorney. He later reached a $2,235,000 settlement with the former students who filed the lawsuit.
Then, earlier this year, long-time collaborator Seth Rogen publicly said he would no longer work with Franco following the allegations, having previously stated he would continue to do so. He added that their personal dynamic had changed over time in light of the allegations.
On his recent podcast appearance, Franco also confirmed he and Rogen had split:
"What he said is true," he said. "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."
Previously, Rogen and Franco had worked on a number of projects such as Pineapple Express and The Interview. Franco more recently starred in HBO drama The Deuce.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
Blogroll image credit: Taylor Hill, via Getty Images
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In an appearance on SiriusXM's "The Jess Cagle Podcast," Franco admitted that he did inappropriately sleep with his students at Studio 4.
"Over the course of my teaching, I did sleep with students, and that was wrong," he said on the podcast. "But like I said, it's not why I started the school and I wasn't the person that selected the people to be in the class. So it wasn't a 'master plan' on my part. But yes, there were certain instances where, you know what, I was in a consensual thing with a student and I shouldn't have been."
Franco added later: "At the time I was not clearheaded, as I've said. So I guess it just comes down to my criteria was like, 'If this is consensual, like, I think it's cool. We're all adults so….'"
He also tied his conduct at the time to sex addiction, which he says manifested following his becoming sober from alcohol.
"It's such a powerful drug," he said. "I got hooked on it for 20 more years. The insidious part of that is that I stayed sober from alcohol all that time. And I went to meetings all that time. I even tried to sponsor other people. So in my head, it was like, 'Oh, I'm sober. I'm living a spiritual life.' Where on the side, I'm acting out now in all these other ways, and I couldn't see it."
Franco was accused of sexual misconduct and abusing his power as an acting teacher and mentor by multiple women in 2018 in a Los Angeles Times article, as well as a lawsuit that followed in 2019. The various accusations included inappropriate behavior on film sets, exposing himself without consent, removing safety guards during an oral sex scene on a film set, and using his position of power to solicit sexual favors from students. He had previously been accused in 2014 of messaging a 17-year-old on Instagram and suggesting they should get a hotel room together.
At the time the accusations were brought forward, Franco denied them both publicly and via an attorney. He later reached a $2,235,000 settlement with the former students who filed the lawsuit.
Then, earlier this year, long-time collaborator Seth Rogen publicly said he would no longer work with Franco following the allegations, having previously stated he would continue to do so. He added that their personal dynamic had changed over time in light of the allegations.
On his recent podcast appearance, Franco also confirmed he and Rogen had split:
"What he said is true," he said. "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."
Previously, Rogen and Franco had worked on a number of projects such as Pineapple Express and The Interview. Franco more recently starred in HBO drama The Deuce.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
Blogroll image credit: Taylor Hill, via Getty Images
Continue reading...