Five Women Accuse James Franco of Sexual Misconduct

According to the Los Angeles Times, five women have accused actor James Franco of sexual misconduct, four of whom were once Franco’s students at various acting schools.

Franco wore a “Time’s Up” pin at Sunday night’s Golden Globes, which one accuser said “was like a slap in my face.”

That accuser, Sarah Tither-Kaplan, told the Times that, while filming a nude orgy scene three years ago, Franco removed several actresses’ plastic guards covering their vaginas while simulating oral sex. In a viral tweet after the Golden Globes, Tither-Kaplan wrote that Franco had put her in an “exploitative” situation.

Hey James Franco, nice #timesup pin at the #GoldenGlobes , remember a few weeks ago when you told me the full nudity you had me do in two of your movies for $100/day wasn’t exploitative because I signed a contract to do it? Times up on that!

— Sarah Tither-Kaplan???? (@sarahtk) January 8, 2018

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Two other women, Hilary Dusome and Natalie Chmiel, said Franco grew angry on set when none of the actresses would take their shirts off at his request. They, along with Tither-Kaplan and fellow accuser Katie Ryan, met Franco through the acting schools Playhouse West and Studio 4.

Ryan told the Times that she received many mass emails from Franco about auditions to play a “prostitute or a hooker” and that Franco “would always make everybody think there were possible roles on the table if we were to perform sexual acts or take off our shirts.”

Finally, Violet Paley, who also tweeted allegations against Franco after the Golden Globe awards, said Franco had pressured her into performing oral sex on him. “I was talking to him, all of a sudden his penis was out,” Paley told the Times. “I got really nervous, and I said, ‘Can we do this later?’ He was kind of nudging my head down, and I just didn’t want him to hate me, so I did it.”

Franco’s attorney denied each woman’s allegations to the Times. Franco responded to the allegations before the Times report was published while appearing on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Franco told Colbert, “The things that I’ve 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. I don’t want to shut them down in any way. I think it’s a good thing and I support it.”