After two decades of working very closely together, James Franco and Seth Rogen are no longer collaborating on any projects for the foreseeable future. This all stems from sexual misconduct allegations against Franco, which he has largely avoided speaking out publicly. He’ll be telling his side of the story from beginning to end in a lengthy interview for The Jess Cagle Show on Thursday, and in a snippet released online, Franco explains how he considered Rogen his closest work friend and still has a lot of love for him.
Initially, Rogen stood by Franco in the wake of allegations leveled against his Pineapple Express co-star. Rogen had even joked about it while hosting Saturday Night Live, which wound up sparking some backlash against him. Rogen would end up reconsidering his stance of supporting Franco and has since announced he wouldn’t be working with his longtime friend on any more upcoming movie projects. Franco confirms that this is true, and while he admits that it’s been “hurtful,” he also totally understands the position.
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James Franco has been accused of sexual misconduct by at least five women. Four of his accusers were acting students who alleged that the actor and filmmaker had “abused his power by exploiting the non-celebrity women that he worked with under the guise of giving them opportunities.” Franco denied the allegations, though he has since settled with two accusers who filed a lawsuit against him in 2019.
It’s hard to say what really happened, but Franco does admit in his new interview that he’s struggled with sex addiction. He also admits that he “did sleep with students and that was wrong,” something he says he justified at the time because the relationships were consensual.
The full interview with Franco can be heard on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Podcast on Thursday, Dec. 23.
