James Franco has recently spoken out about he was ‘cast out’ of Hollywood, as well as touching upon his friendship with long time creative partner Seth Rogen.
Franco is well known for starring in comedies such as Pineapple Express, The Interview, as well as more serious roles such as 127 Hours, and his part as Tommy Wiseau in The Disaster Artist.
Despite this and roles in cult classic Freaks and Geeks, as well as the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, he has been excommunicado from Hollywood for several years.
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What did James Franco do to be ‘cast out’ of Hollywood?
While it didn’t cause him being cast out, controversy first shrouded Franco after he admitted to ‘chatting up’ a 17-year-old in 2014.
The teenager posted messages between the pair on Instagram when he was 35, showing him trying to meet her in a hotel room, even after being told she was 17. Franco chalked this up to social media being ‘tricky’.
Controversy continued, however, in 2018 when the Los Angeles Times revealed that five women had accused Franco of sexually inappropriate or exploitative behaviour.
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All five women were either students of Franco’s, or he was serving as their mentor.
These allegations were not the only ones laid against Franco either, as former Freaks and Geeks co-star Busy Phillips accused him of screaming at her and ‘violently’ shoving her to the ground while filming a scene.
In addition, a former co-worker Ally Sheedy hinted on twitter that she had quit acting due to working with Franco, and a former girlfriend claimed he ‘forced’ her to perform oral sex on him in a car.
What has James Franco said about the various allegations?
When sexual misconduct allegations first arose during his awards campaign for The Disaster Artist, Franco denied these on The Stephen Colbert Show.
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He was sued by two of his former students, who alleged he ‘sought to create a pipeline of young women who were subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education’.
The matter was settled out of court to the tune of $894,000.
Franco admitted in a 2021 interview on Jess Cagle Podcast that he had slept with his students in the past, saying it ‘was wrong’.
He went on to say: "I suppose at the time, my thinking was: If it's consensual, it's OK."
He claimed, however, that the idea he had set up his school to create a ‘pipeline’ was ‘not why [he] started that school.’
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What has James Franco said about his relationship with Seth Rogen and return to Hollywood?
In his new interview with Variety, Franco opened up about his claim he was ‘cast out’ of Hollywood.
He said: “Being told you’re bad is painful. But ultimately, that’s kind of what I needed to just stop going the way I was going.
“I’m so grateful to be working. I did go through a lawsuit, and during that lawsuit I wasn’t working.
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“But then COVID hit so everybody wasn’t working. So, I don’t know, it was all… I mean, we were all kind of in it. So it was sort of like, 'I don’t know what I am'.”
When asked about his relationship with fellow comedian and actor Seth Rogen, Franco said: “No. I haven’t talked to Seth. I love Seth, we had 20 great years together, but I guess it’s over.
"And not for lack of trying. I’ve told him how much he’s meant to me."
When the allegations first arose, Rogen stood by Franco, before later telling The Sunday Times: “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.
“I also 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. I don’t know if I can define that [our friendship] right now during this interview.”
Franco will soon star in his first film since 2019, titled Hey Joe.
Topics: James Franco, Celebrity, US News, Film
Michael Slavin