The James Franco Controversy Explained
This article contains discussions of addiction, sexual assault, and sexual harassment.
James Franco walked his first red carpet in years during the 2024 Cannes Film Festival — so why has this former Hollywood A-lister been dormant for years?
Franco, who showed up for the premiere of Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone's post-"Poor Things" film "Kinds of Kindness" (among others) and who reportedly attended a party thrown in the French city by Nespresso (per Vanity Fair), has laid low due to numerous controversies, all regarding alleged sexual misconduct and impropriety. The star, who got his start on projects like "Freaks and Geeks" and "Never Been Kissed" and became an enormous celebrity thanks to roles in hits like "Pineapple Express" and Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" films, has been accused of inappropriately texting much-younger women, sexually harassing and abusing women, and creating toxic enviroments — both on sets and in projects like his acting school (more on that in a bit).
So how did the controversies surrounding Franco begin? Though Franco faced his own reckoning during the height of the #MeToo movement, murmurs of misconduct swirled years before powerful industry figures like Harvey Weinstein were exposed as predators. Here's a thorough timeline of every controversy Franco has faced in the past several years.
Accusations about James Franco's inappropriate behavior first surfaced back in 2014
James Franco's first public troubles came back in 2014, when he was accused of sending text messages to a young woman who, at the time, was 17 years old. According to various reports, Franco sent text messages to the woman, who was not yet 18 — and Franco was 35 years old. According to a report in The Daily Mail, Lucy Clode, a Scottish fan of Franco, exchanged several direct messages with the "Spring Breakers" star where he inquired as to whether the young woman had a boyfriend, where in New York she was staying, and asked for her phone number. Franco, at one point, sent a photo of himself to prove that it was really him.
Franco admitted to sending the messages on a 2014 episode of "Live with Kelly and Michael" (via Entertainment Weekly), telling the morning talk show hosts, "I'm embarrassed, and I guess I'm just a model of how social media is tricky. It's a way people meet each other today, but what I've learned is you don't know who's on the other end. I used bad judgement and I learned my lesson." Still, this was only the beginning of Franco's public problems.
The #MeToo reckoning brought more of James Franco's alleged misdeeds to light
James Franco's next moment of reckoning came in January 2018, as the #MeToo movement held men in Hollywood responsible for widespread sexual misconduct (with notable predators like Harvey Weinstein being toppled as women revealed their harrowing experiences). Franco appeared at the Golden Globes that year and donned a Time's Up pin to support the movement, which immediately drew critiques from people who had worked with him in the past.
Former Brat Pack member Ally Sheedy, best known for her role in "The Breakfast Club," wrote now-deleted posts on X (formerly known as Twitter) accusing Franco of being part the reason that she left the entertainment industry (the posts can still be seen in a screenshot on The Cut). Sheedy worked with Franco on the off-Broadway play "The Long Shrift" in 2014. In Time Magazine, Franco's former girlfriend Violet Paley, who joined five women in the Los Angeles Times to accuse Franco of sexual impropriety, spoke out as well.
While speaking to Stephen Colbert on The Late Show (via Rolling Stone), Franco denied any wrongdoing, saying that he had a positive experience working with Sheedy. He concluded by saying that while the accusations were false, he was supportive of the #MeToo movement overall: "The things that I heard that were on Twitter are not accurate, but I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice because they didn't have a voice for so long. So, I don't want to shut them down in any way. It's a good thing and I support it."
James Franco's acting school was plagued with controversy and accusations
Then there was the debacle over James Franco's acting school, which faced a lawsuit after two women said that the school was little more than an excuse for the actor to sexually harass and abuse women. In an exposé in The New York Times, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, who attended Franco's program Studio 4, said that they joined the school's Los Angeles branch and didn't receive the training they were promised; instead, they were subject to uncomfortable sexual situations from Franco and his partner Vince Jolivette, among others.
In the lawsuit, Tither-Kaplanjn and Gall alleged that Franco and other prominent figures at Studio 4 "engaged in widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behavior towards female students by sexualizing their power as a teacher and an employer by dangling the opportunity for roles in their projects." The women went on to say that this "led to an environment of harassment and sexual exploitation both in and out of the class." Franco and his partners denied these accusations, but it was telling that the school offered "master classes," including one that taught aspiring actors how to perform in sex scenes; sessions in that particular class were videotaped and allegedly provided to Franco for review, at which point the subjects would sign a document waiving any rights to the videos. Ultimately, Franco confessed to having sexual relationships with students as well.
Co-stars have accused James Franco of inappropriate behavior
After students from Studio 4 leveled accusations against James Franco, more women spoke out about the actor's bad behavior — including women who worked with him on some of his biggest projects. Busy Phillips, who starred alongside Franco on "Freaks and Geeks" as his on-again off-again on-screen girlfriend Kim Kelly, included a story in her 2019 memoir "This Will Only Hurt a Little" about how Franco physically assaulted her on set and called him a "f***ng bully" (via Radar Online). According to a report in Variety, Phillips had mentioned Franco's abusive on-set behavior before, including during a 2016 appearance on the Bravo show "Watch What Happens Live," where she told host Andy Cohen that she "smacked" him while improvising a scene and he "shoved [her] to the ground." As Phillips put it, the entire situation was bizarre: "It was an overreaction by a 19-year-old dude. And it was weird and people's agents had to be called and he had to apologize to me."
Then, in April 2021, actress Charlyne Li — who worked with Franco and his frequent collaborator Seth Rogen on their film "The Disaster Artist" — said that she tried to quit the project entirely due to the accusations made about Franco. Yi claimed in an Instagram post that the team tried to keep her on set by promising a larger role and said that she was disgusted with the situation, naming Rogen as an "enabler" as well. "Enablers are just as toxic and are abusers too," Yi said in the post. "Disgusted by white men choosing power over protecting children and women from predators. Educate, organize, and dismantle corruption in your circles and in the law."
What is James Franco doing today?
These days, James Franco isn't acting nearly as much as he once did; it certainly doesn't help that, in the aftermath of Charlyne Yi's comments, Franco's superstar collaborator Seth Rogen said he didn't plan to work alongside the accused actor in the future. Franco lent his voice to the 2019 project "Arctic Dogs" but then took an apparent breather from acting, though his IMDb page does list future projects (including a film where he'll play Fidel Castro). anity Fair's report about Franco at the Cannes Film Festival says he attended to find a buyer for his film "The Razor's Edge," which also features Tommy Lee Jones and is set to be directed by Demian Lichtenstein.
Based on his own admissions, Franco has not been respectful to women throughout his career — and though he did tell radio host Jess Cagle that he struggled with addiction and that he used his fame to "lure" in prospective partners, he didn't fully own up to a pattern of misconduct. Now, he seems poised to stage his return to Hollywood; whether or not he'll be fully welcomed back remains to be seen.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).