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Female students are coming forward to speak out against Hollywood star James Franco and his acting school, claiming that his auditions and acting classes went far beyond what could be considered appropriate for Hollywood sets.
If you are one of the many people that thought there was always something a little slimy about Franco, you are apparently not wrong.
Two actresses have teamed up together to sue both James Franco and the acting school where he taught a “master class” on how to perform adult-inspired scenes with authenticity in front of the camera.
Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal both named Franco, the school, and his production company, Rabbit Bandini, as well as his partners with the company.
The acting school was opened and funded by Franco himself. Called Studio 4, it opened in 2014 and held classes in both Los Angeles and New York until it closed without warning in 2017. Franco never addressed just what happened that caused the school to close.
Both girls hope that by coming forward, they will encourage more Studio 4 students to also step forward and join them. Kaplan said that she knows there are others out there.
The girls say in the lawsuit that it was implied if they went along with what Franco wanted in the classroom, they would be cast in films that his production company put on.
While everything was apparently performed on a closed set like it would be in a real Hollywood film, according to the girls they were pushed to do a lot more than they were comfortable with. Clothing was very much not required and “group acts” were not just encouraged but asked of them.
Kaplan did land a role with Rabbit Bandini after the class but says that she now realizes it was her willingness to do “whatever” to make the grade in the classroom that led to it. Gaal questioned Franco and her teachers at Studio 4 and claims that she was pushed out of the classroom because of that.
These two girls are not the first to accuse Franco of inappropriate conduct, and it appears they won’t be the last. Three other girls also spoke out against Franco last year. He went on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” to address these comments and flat out denied them.
“If I’ve done something wrong, I will fix it. I have to.” In 2018 during the peak of #MeToo, numerous women spoke out against James Franco on Twitter after he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical in The Disaster Artist.
According to a spokesman for Franco, the star plans on defending his reputation. Not only will they be arguing against the girls in court, but they plan to flip it around and sue for damages.
The actor’s attorney, Michael Plonsker, called this a “scurrilous publicity-seeking lawsuit”.
