Seth Rogen has said he currently has no plans to work with frequent collaborator James Franco after the Disaster Artist actor was accused of sexual misconduct.
In an interview with The Sunday Times about his new memoir, Yearbook, Rogen addressed the allegations Franco has faced over the past few years, as well as the time he joked about Franco sending Instagram messages to teenage girls in his Saturday Night Live monologue from 2014.
Franco, who was 35 at the time, reportedly messaged a 17-year-old girl on the platform after she went to one of his Broadway shows. He reportedly asked her if she was single, where she was staying, and if she was 18.
“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,” Rogen said during his opening monologue.
Then in 2018, after Franco wore a Time’s Up pin to the Golden Globes, The Los Angeles Times published accusations made against him by five women.
Four of the women had been students at Franco’s now defunct acting and filmmaking school, Studio 4, and accused the actor of sexual misconduct while teaching ‘sex scene masterclasses’.
Franco was accused of removing vaginal guards from women while simulating oral sex scenes in class.
Two women later filed a sexual misconduct lawsuit against the actor, but all parties reached a settlement deal in February of this year.
“[Franco’s masterclass] was little more than a scheme to provide him and his male collaborators with a pool of young female performers that they could take advantage of,” the lawsuit alleged.
Franco has categorically denied the allegations against him. Prior to the LA Times’ article, the actor appeared on a number of late night talk shows to discuss his appearance at the Golden Globes and the backlash it sparked.
“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,” Rogen told the Times.
“However, 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.”
Rogen also discussed a 2018 interview he did with Vulture, where he said he would still work with Franco.
“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,” the actor said.
Rogen added that it isn’t a “coincidence” that his working relationship with Franco has basically dissolved and that the allegations have affected their friendship.
“I don’t know if I can define that right now during this interview,” Rogen said of their friendship. “I can say it, um, you know, it has changed many things in our relationship and our dynamic.”
Rogen and Franco share a large body of work together, which includes Freaks and Geeks, The Interview, This Is The End, Sausage Party, Pineapple Express, and the pair’s parody of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian‘s Bound 3 music video.
