James Franco Admits To Sexual Misconduct Allegations, Says He's A Recovering Sex Addict

James Franco has finally addressed the allegations of sexual misconduct that were levelled at him several years ago.

Back in 2018, five women came forward and accused Franco of sexual harassment. The lawsuit alleged that the women, students at the acting school Franco founded, were pushed into being part of explicit sex scenes "that went far beyond the standards in the industry".

Franco's lawyer Michael Plonsker denied the accusations and called the lawsuit "ill-informed" at the time. Franco reached settlement agreements with two of the women, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, in early 2021.

In a recent interview on The Jess Cagle Podcast, Franco spoke at length about the allegations for the first time. He admitted that while teaching, "he did sleep with students, and that was wrong". He added that he did not start the school for such purposes.

“I suppose at the time, my thinking was if it’s consensual, OK,” he explained. “At the time I was not clearheaded.”

Franco went on to say he developed a sex addiction, and that he's been in recovery since 2016 "doing a lot of work" to change who he was.

“It’s such a powerful drug,” he said. “I got hooked on it for 20 more years. The insidious part of that is that I stayed sober from alcohol all that time. I didn’t want to hurt people."

Franco's interview has since been criticised by lawyers representing his accusers, blasting his comments as "insensitive" and downplaying the experience of his victims.

“In addition to being blind about power dynamics, Franco is completely insensitive to, and still apparently does not care about, the immense pain and suffering he put his victims through,” attorneys at Valli Kane & Vagnini LLP and Hadsell, Stormer Renick & Dai LLP told Variety.

“It is unbelievable that even after agreeing to a settlement he continues to downplay the survivors’ experiences and ignore their pain, despite acknowledging he had no business starting such a school in the first place.

“Nobody should confuse this interview with Franco taking accountability for his actions or expressing remorse over what happened. It is a transparent ducking of the real issues released just before a major holiday in hopes that he wouldn’t face any scrutiny over his response.”

Topics: TV And Film