Former A-list movie star and filmmaker James Franco was spotted out in Miami on Sunday, May 4, sporting sweatpants and a baseball cap and looking quite different from what fans are used to.
The actor has been living quietly, mostly outside of the Hollywood hustle, since he was accused of sexual misconduct in 2018 by students at the acting school of which he was a co-owner and instructor. The claims were eventually settled out of court for $2.2 million.
In 2021, the Oscar nominee admitted in an interview on The Jess Cagle Show that he did sleep with students at the school, and he acknowledged that “that was wrong.”
“Over the course of my teaching,g I did sleep with students, and that was wrong. But…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…I was in a consensual thing with a student, and I shouldn’t have been,” said Franco.
When interviewer Cagle pushed back on his not mentioning the power imbalance that exists between young students and a very famous actor who is their teacher, he said it was “probably not a cool thing.”
“I suppose at the time, my thinking was if it’s consensual, OK. 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,” said Franco.
Part of the lawsuit said that the students were led to believe they would be giving opportunities to audition for Franco’s projects, but that did not come to fruition and instead, they were subjected to things like a class called “Sex Scenes,” which they had to pay extra for and which, instead of teaching them how to navigate filming a sexual scene, it wanted them to “get naked and do sex scenes and not complain and push the envelope,” according to NPR.
In a 2024 interview with Variety, Franco was asked about “being cast out of Hollywood” after he admitted to sleeping with his acting students, and he said, “It is what it is.”
“I mean, it is what it is. I’ve honestly moved past it. It was dealt with, and I got to change. So that’s it, it’s over. I mean, I’ve worked in the U.S. too. So I’m just trying to move on,” said Franco.
He also addressed the fact that his 20-year friendship with Freaks & Geeks co-star Seth Rogen ended over the sexual misconduct scandal, and he said that he has tried to get back in touch with Rogen.
“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,” said Franco.
In 2021, Rogen told The Sunday Times that the allegations against Franco “changed many things” in their relationship.
“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,” said Rogen, adding, “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.”
