James Franco addresses sexual misconduct claims on Colbert's Late Show, loses New York Times forum

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Late Show)

published 10 January 2018

On Tuesday night, The New York Times canceled a public TimesTalk event scheduled for Wednesday featuring James Franco, citing "the controversy surrounding recent allegations." Franco wore a "Time's Up" pin at the Golden Globe on Sunday, and while he was accepting an award for his film The Disaster Artist, several women accused him of sexual misconduct on Twitter, the most serious accusation being from actress Violet Paley about coerced oral sex. Franco did not comment on the accusations at the National Board of Review Awards gala on Tuesday, but he did discuss them with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, which taped before the TimesTalk cancelation but aired after it.

Franco told Colbert that he fully supports the Time's Up movement and its goals of ending sexual harassment and raising more women and minorities to positions of power. Regarding the sexual misconduct accusations, "there were some things on Twitter — I didn't read them, I've heard about them," he said. "Look, in my life I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I've done," he added. "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."

Colbert asked Franco about the dynamic of accusations via Twitter, and Franco responded that "the way I live my life, I can't live if there's restitution to be made. I will make it. So if I've done something wrong, I will fix it. I have to." As for "the bigger issues," he said, "look, I really don't have the answers and I think the point of this whole thing is that we listen." Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.