Seth Rogen says he won’t work with James Franco after sexual misconduct claims and is ‘ashamed’ of joke about teen girl
SETH Rogen said he won't work with James Franco after a series of sexual misconduct claims.
He further claimed he is "ashamed" of the joke he made during an episode of Saturday Night Live where they addressed James' alleged messages with a teen girl.
In an interview with , Seth addressed the recent scandal surrounding James, who has been his co-star in several movies, such as Pineapple Express, The Disaster Artist, This Is The End, The Interview, Sausage Party, and many others.
The 39-year-old told the outlet when asked "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."
The Canadian actor further addressed the joke he made during an SNL skit in 2014 which made fun of the first allegations made against the 43-year-old.
In the skit, Seth told the audience: "To make myself feel better I decided to prank James Franco.
"I posed as a girl on Instagram, told him I was way young. He seemed unfazed. I have a date to meet him at the Ace Hotel."
However, in light of the most recent allegations, Seth said about the joke: "I do look back at a joke I made on Saturday Night Live in 2014 and I very much regret making that joke.
"It was a terrible joke, honestly. And 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."
James has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct in the past.
In 2014, he sent messages to a 17-year-old fan trying to get her to meet him in a hotel room in New York - despite knowing she was a teenager.
The girl - who met James, then 35, outside a Broadway theater he was performing at - shared screenshots of their conversations.
The actor later confirmed that the exchange was real and said he was "embarrassed" and had used ";bad judgement".
In 2018, James' ex girlfriend Violet Paley alleged that he once tried to force her to give him oral sex in a car. James said the accusations were "not accurate".
In February of this year, James reached a settlement with two former students at his acting and film school, after he was accused of intimidating students into gratuitous and exploitative sexual situations.
Actresses and ex-students of James - Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal - filed a sexual misconduct lawsuit against the actor in 2019.
The plaintiffs alleged that the 172 Hours actor intimated students at an acting and film school he founded into gratuitous and exploitative sexual situations.
Their lawsuit claimed Franco pushed his students into performing in increasingly explicit sex scenes on camera in an "orgy type setting" that went far beyond those acceptable on Hollywood film sets.
Both Sarah and Toni, who first filed the lawsuit in 2019, agreed to drop their individual claims under an agreement, according to court filing.
And most recently, just last month, Charlyne spoke out about her experience working with James and Seth on the 2017 film, The Disaster Artist, in a lengthy Instagram post.
Charlyne - who played costume designer Safowa Bright-Asare in the movie - said she tried to "break legal contract" and quit because she didn't feel "safe" working with .
The Good Girls actress alleged that bosses "bribed" her by offering her a larger role on the movie.
She wrote: "When I tried to break legal contract and quit Disaster Artist because James Franco is a sexual predator, they tried to bribe me with a bigger acting role.
"I cried and told them that that was the exact opposite of what I wanted, that I didn't feel safe working with a f**ing sexual predator."
Charlyne added: "They minimized and said Franco being a predator was so last year and that he changed… when I literally heard of him abusing new women that week."
She went on: "Predators will perform empathy, gaslight and say they will do better - all in order to protect themselves and continue to harm others."
Charlyne called Seth - who she worked with on her first ever movie credit, 2007's Knocked Up - an "enabler".
"Seth Rogen was one of the producers on this film so he definitely knows why I quit," she wrote.
"White men saying it's not their responsibility when holding Franco accountable, or when holding Seth Rogen and enablers accountable.
"Then whose responsibility is it? The women and children who have PTSD from Franco? Or the future targets of abuse?
"White men perform infantilism when it comes to sacrificing their white supremacy and patriarchy because they actually don't give a f**k."
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Charlyne shared the post for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
The Sun reached out to reps for James and Seth for comment at the time of Charlyne's post.
