The audience at the Golden Globe Awards cheered with excitement as James Franco leapt onto the stage to claim his Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy for his performance in The Disaster Artist.
Credit: Golden Globes/NBC
But before the night was even over, the 39-year-old was being accused of sexual misconduct in the past. People on social media were quick to point out the irony of Franco wearing a 'Time's Up' badge on his lapel as the sea of allegations rose.
The most high-profile accusation came from actor Ally Sheedy (The Breakfast Club). She's since deleted the tweets from her Twitter account, but one of them read: "James Franco just won. Please never ask me why I left the film/TV business," according to the Independent.
Franco directed Sheedy in an off-Broadway production The Long Shrift in 2014, however, it's unclear what exactly she's alleging.
Another actor, Violet Paley, has levelled a sexual misconduct claim against the actor, saying: "Remember the time you pushed my head down in a car towards your exposed penis & that other time you told my friend to come to your hotel when she was 17?
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"After you had already been caught doing that to a different 17-year-old?"
Franco was found to be messaging a teenager on Instagram and pursued her even after finding out she was 17.
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He appeared on Live with Kelly and Michael in 2014 after the story broke, telling the hosts: "It's the way that people meet each other today, but what I've learned - I guess because I'm new to it - is you don't know who's on the other end."
Technically he wasn't breaking any laws if anything happened because the age of consent in New York is 17.
Credit: WABC-TV
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As the allegations were circulating on social media, people went in on him, labelling the award winner a 'fucking piece of trash', 'a gross predator' and a 'creep'.
In addition to that social media shitstorm, people were also criticising Franco for blocking Tommy Wiseau from speaking on stage after he accepted his award.
Franco's The Disaster Artist was a film about how Wiseau created The Room, which is widely considered one of the worst movies in history, despite it's enormous cult following.
James signals to Tommy to join him and his brother, Dave, however when the actor tried to approach the microphone, Franco pushed him back.
Interestingly, according to Variety's Stuart Oldham, the only thing Tommy wanted to say was: "If a lot of people love each other, the world would be a better place to live. See Disaster Artist, see The Room. Have fun. And American dream is alive, a real thing."
It's a shame that never got to be said.
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Sources: Independent
Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Celebrity, US News, US Entertainment, Golden Globes
