James Franco has been off the grid following a string of sexual misconduct allegations that were made against him back in 2018. Since that time, his former frequent co-star Seth Rogen has gone about his own business and made a number of great projects, such as An American Pickle and The Boys. During that time, it’s not surprising that Rogen was asked about his working relationship with Franco. Earlier this year, the actor/writer/producer shared that he had no plans to work with his Pineapple Express co-lead. Now for the first time in four years, Franco is attempting to clear the air with the public.
On Wednesday, James Franco spoke with Sirius XM’s Jess Cagle about his sexual misconduct allegations, and in the midst of this, he responded to Seth Rogen’s comments about their working relationship. In Franco’s words:
Of course, it was hurtful in context, but I get it, you know, he had to answer for me cause I was silent.
James Franco shared to Jess Cagle that one of the “main reasons” he asked to speak on the podcast was because his colleagues, like Seth Rogen, and his brother Dave Franco have been placed in the uncomfortable position of speaking for him. When the allegations were made against Franco, the actor recalled deciding he was “going to be quiet” due to so much negative attention being aimed toward him. But now he’s ready to speak to his past head on. While speaking about Rogen, Franco also said this:
He was asked about me, and I just want to say, I absolutely love Seth Rogen. I guess I’m talking about it because a lot of people come up to me [and ask]. I 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 and what he said is true, we’re not working together right now and we don’t have any plans to work together.
In early 2021, Seth Rogen said that he despises abuse and harassment, and “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” in reference to not working with James Franco. Since the allegations were made, Franco hasn’t really worked with anyone.
During his conversation on The Jess Cagle Podcast, James Franco spoke to his sex addiction, sharing that after getting sober, he found addiction in sex, calling it “such a powerful drug and I got hooked on it.” He got candid about cheating on “everyone,” being “completely blind to power dynamics” and “people’s feelings” until he decided to work on himself these past few years.
James Franco’s sexual misconduct allegations first popped up in 2014 when a 17-year-old girl shared screenshots of messages between her and Franco, which had the then 35-year-old asking to meet her at a hotel room despite knowing her age. Franco admitted the messages were real, even joking about it at the time (in New York, the legal consent age is 17). In 2018, a number of women accused James Franco of misconduct, including Freaks and Geeks co-star Busy Philipps and students at the college where he taught film classes as a professor. In the podcast, Franco also admitted that he “did sleep with students” while he held a teaching position.
Earlier this year, James Franco agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit led by two former students of his acting school, granting them $2.2 million after previously denying their allegations of being sexually exploited and victims of fraud by his now-closed school. If any more major news items concerning Franco come in, we’ll let you know.