“We aren’t working together right now, and we don’t have any plans to work together.”
In 2018, James Franco was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women during the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements.
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According to the Los Angeles Times, several of the women who accused him were students of the film school he founded, Studio 4.
The 43-year-old has largely remained silent on the allegations until now. Breaking his silence during an interview on The Jess Cagle Podcast that releases in full on Thursday, James said, “In 2018, there were some complaints about me and an article about me, and, at that moment, I just thought ‘I’m gonna be quiet. I’m gonna be— I’m gonna pause.’ Did not seem like the right time to say anything. There were people that were upset with me and I needed to listen.”
The actor mentioned that he had previously been in recovery for substance abuse. “There were some issues that I had to deal with that were also related to addiction. And so, I’ve really used my recovery background to kind of start examining this and changing who I was.”
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He also addressed his friendship with Seth Rogen.
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The pair have worked on numerous projects over the years, including movies like Pineapple Express and This Is the End.
Back in May, Seth told the Sunday Times, “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.” He revealed that he had no plans to work with James in the future.
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In the new SiriusXM interview, James responded to Seth’s statement, saying, “He was asked about me, and I just wanna say I absolutely love Seth Rogen…I worked with him for 20 years. We didn’t have one fight for 20 years. Not one fight. He was my absolute closest work friend, collaborator. We just gelled.”
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“What he said is true, you know, we aren’t working together right now, and we don’t have any plans to work together,” he continued.
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“Of course, it was hurtful, in context, but I get it. He had to answer for me ’cause I was silent. He had to answer for me, and I don’t want that. So that’s why, that’s one of the main reasons I wanted to talk to you today: I don’t want Seth or my brother or anyone to have to answer for me anymore,” he concluded.
You can watch the interview clips of The Jess Cagle Podcast here and here.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE, which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here.
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/morgansloss1/james-franco-addressed-his-friendship-with-seth-rogen-after
