The controversy surrounding the Pineapple Express and Spider-Man star has reignited this week after Seth Rogen finally commented on Franco’s claims that their friendship is ‘over’.
Franco was accused in 2018 of sexually inappropriate behaviour by five former students from his acting school, with of his two of his accusers alleging that he’d ‘create a pipeline of young women who were subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education’ in a 2019 lawsuit, the BBC reports.
While Franco denied the claims, with his lawyers calling them ‘ill-informed’, he did admit to sleeping with students whilst running his acting school, saying that was ‘wrong’.
Franco’s co-star Zoey Deutch was clear in her feelings about him (20th Century Studios)
He settled a £1.6 million lawsuit with his two former students, and has since addressed the impact the allegations had on him and his family.
Back in 2022, Franco faced some criticism from Zoey Deutch who he starred together with on Why Him?
The film follows Deutch as a young woman called Stephanie who is dating James Franco’s rich character Laird.
When Stephanie’s father, played by Bryan Cranston, finds out that Laird plans to propose, he sets out to try stop it.
It came during a podcast appearance on Chicks In The Office in 2022 after Deutch was asked a ‘f*ck, marry, kill’ question.
When discussing her ‘favourite’ actor she’d worked with, including Dylan O’Brien, Zac Efron, and Glen Powell, she joked that there are several actors she could add to that list – with one in particular falling under the ‘kill’ category, saying: “I definitely have a kill.”
The podcast hosts asked ‘James Franco?’ leading her to refuse to answer and simply reach for a bottle of water on her desk.
Deutch was coy in her feelings on Franco, but made her opinion clear (Chicks in the Office podcast)
While she has never outright spoken out about her experience with Franco, she has previously described the experience of kissing him in the film as being ‘meh’ and ‘not memorable’.
In addition to this, when accusers came forward accusing him of sexual misconduct, Deutch released a statement to the New York Times saying: “I am so proud and in awe of the people who have come forward about [James Franco].”
When asked by Variety earlier this year about Rogen saying he would no longer work with Franco, the actor 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.”
