James Franco and Seth Rogen were once considered a legendary comedy duo in Hollywood thanks to timeless classics like Pineapple Express and This Is The End. But their partnership seemingly ended after Franco was accused of sexual misconduct in 2018.
Now, Franco says he and his former Freaks and Geeks co-star no longer keep in touch.
“I haven’t talked to Seth,” he told Variety. “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.”
Franco was accused of sexual misconduct in 2018 by multiple women who claimed he used the acting school he founded to coerce and exploit female students into performing nude. Two former students, filmmaker Sarah Tither-Kaplan and actress Violet Paley, filed a class-action lawsuit in 2019 accusing Franco and his business partners of engaging in “widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behavior towards female students by sexualizing their power as a teacher and an employer.”
Though he initially denied the allegations, Franco later settled the lawsuit for $2.2 million He also admitted to sleeping with students from the school, but maintained that the relationships were “consensual.”
Rogen finally addressed the allegations in 2021 and definitively stated that he had no plans of collaborating with Franco again.
“What I can say is that 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 told The Sunday Times.
“I also look back to that interview in 2018 where I comment that I would keep working with James, and the truth is that I have not and I do not plan to right now,” he added.
Rogen also apologized for a “terrible” joke he made on Saturday Night Live in 2014 about Franco trying to meet a 17-year-old girl at a hotel, which really happened.
Franco later addressed Rogen’s comments in a candid interview on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Podcast.
“What he said is true. You know, we aren’t working together right now and we don’t have any plans to work together,” Franco said. “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… I don’t want Seth or my brother [Dave Franco] or anyone to have to answer for me anymore.”
Franco now says he did “a lot of work to change who I was” during his hiatus from acting.
Now, Franco is returning to the silver screen with Hey Joe, which will be premiering at the Rome Film Festival.
If you or someone you know needs to reach out about sexual abuse or assault, RAINN is available 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE (4673), or online at RAINN.org.