Seth Rogen has said he 'very much regrets' a 'terrible' Saturday Night Live joke about actor James Franco and underage girls.
Rogen had guest-hosted SNL back in 2014, quipping that he'd managed to get a date with Franco while posing as an underage girl on social media - a reference to allegations that Franco had been messaging a 17-year-old girl on Instagram, with messages leaked online showing the star asking whether or not she had a boyfriend and if she'd like to meet up.
Franco later admitted he did send the messages, adding that he was 'embarrassed' after they came to light.
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Pretending to read a journal, Rogen said on the sketch comedy show: "To make myself feel better I decided to prank James Franco. I posed as a girl on Instagram, told him I was way young. He seemed unfazed. I have a date to meet him at the Ace Hotel."
In a new interview with Sunday Times' Culture magazine, Rogen expressed deep regret for the bad-taste joke, saying it was 'terrible'.
He said: "I do look back at a joke I made on Saturday Night Live in 2014 and I very much regret making that joke. It was a terrible joke, honestly."
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Rogen also said he has 'no plans' to work with Franco again, following allegations of sexual misconduct made against his former co-star and collaborator.
Rogen and Franco have previously worked together on projects including Pineapple Express, This is the End and The Disaster Artist.
After actors Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal filed a 2019 lawsuit alleging Franco had intimated acting school students into exploitative sexual situations, a deal was reached in February this year - under which Tither-Kaplan and Gaal agreed to drop their claims.
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Following the agreement, Rogen has come out and said he does not plan to work with Franco anytime soon.
In the same interview, he said: "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."
Rogen said the allegations against Franco have affected their friendship, adding: "I look back to that interview in 2018 where I comment that I would keep working with James, and the truth is that I have not and I do not plan to right now."
He explained that the decision not to work with Franco was 'not a coincidence', saying: "I can say it, um, you know, it has changed many things in our relationship and our dynamic."
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