WHAT’S BEING CLAIMED:
- Actor James Franco has finally admitted he had sex with students of his acting school.
- Franco said in an interview that he thought the act was acceptable because it was “consensual.”
- The actor said he knew it was wrong and it’s not the reason why he started the acting school.
After more than two years that James Franco was accused of sexual exploitation, the actor is finally admitting to having sex with his students.
The actor admitted in an interview with SiriusXM’s Jess Cagle that he thought sleeping with students of his acting school was acceptable because it was “consensual.” Franco denied starting Studio 4 to have access to the female students.
“Look, I’ll admit I did sleep with students. I didn’t sleep with anybody in [my ‘Sex Scenes’ class], but, over the course of my teaching, I did sleep with students and that was wrong,” Franco told Cagle.
“But like I said, I, it’s not why I started the school and I, I didn’t, I wasn’t the person that selected the people to be in the class. So it wasn’t a master plan on my part. But yes, there were certain instances where, you know what I was in a consensual thing with, with a student and I shouldn’t have been.”
The 43-year-old actor acknowledged that he realized sleeping with his students was poor form after having conversations with other people about the concept. He thought if it’s “consensual” then “it’s cool” but admitted that he was not “clearheaded” at the time.
In October 2019, former students Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles County Superior Court claiming Franco and other instructors forced women to get naked for auditions. However, promised opportunities for movie roles rarely materialized.
By engaging in “widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behavior towards female students,” Franco created “an environment of harassment and sexual exploitation” at the school, claims the suit.
Franco’s attorney denied any wrongdoing at the time in a statement.”
“James will not only fully defend himself, but will also seek damages from the plaintiffs and their attorneys for filing this scurrilous publicity seeking lawsuit,” the statement said.
Variety reported that Franco settled the lawsuit for $2,235,000 in June 2021.
Franco’s Studio 4 closed permanently in 2017.
“I let a lot of people down. I let my students down, I let the, I hosted the Oscars. I let them down. I let my co-workers down on my movies,” Franco told Cagle.
Franco also admitted he’s battled sex addiction and before his current girlfriend, Izabel Pakzad, he “cheated on everyone.”
Source: Page Six
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