James Franco is speaking out almost four years after his sexual misconduct scandal.
The actor's comments came after being accused of inappropriate behavior by five women in a Los Angeles Times exposé in 2018, per People. In 2019, he was sued by two women who alleged he "engaged in widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behavior towards female students" at his acting school. In an interview on The Jess Cagle Podcast, Franco said he wanted to "pause" and "be quiet" after the allegations emerged but that he's since been "doing a lot of work" toward "changing who I was."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"There were certain instances where I was in a consensual thing with a student, and I shouldn't have been," Franco said.
The actor also said he battled sex addiction and admitted he "cheated on everyone" before he started dating his girlfriend Isabel Pakzad, acknowledging he was "completely blind to power dynamics" and "completely blind to people's feelings." He added that he "didn't want to hurt people" but that his "behavior spun out to a point where it was like I was hurting everybody."
Earlier this year, Franco's longtime collaborator Seth Rogen said he had no plans to work with him again after the allegations. Franco called Rogen his "absolute closest work friend," and he said the comments were "hurtful" but that "I get it."
-
The Taliban wages war on high-speed internetTHE EXPLAINER A new push to cut nationwide access to the digital world is taking Afghanistan back to the isolationist extremes of decades past
-
The US and Colombia renew their feud over the drug warIn the Spotlight The US has accused Colombia of failing in its drug-fighting efforts
-
‘The problem isn’t solved by simply swapping out the faces on screen’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
