Ever since he won a Golden Globe for “The Disaster Artist” on Sunday, James Franco has been a target of sexual misconduct allegations on social media, which have led to the cancellation of his New York Times event. The backlash against the actor-director also has prompted a reaction from HBO, where Franco is star and executive producer of new porn industry drama “The Deuce,” recently renewed for a second season.
“We have verified that no complaints about Mr. Franco have come in on ‘The Deuce’ production,” HBO said in a statement to Deadline.
Franco addressed the allegations during his appearance on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Tuesday night. He told Colbert that he was aware of what Ally Sheedy had said. Shortly after his win, Sheedy sent out a vague tweet about Franco’s behavior in the past. The two worked together on the 2014 off-Broadway production of “The Long Shrift.”
To this, Franco said, “I have no idea what I did to Ally Sheedy. I had nothing but a great time with her. I have total respect for her.” He said that they had fun working together and he said he couldn’t speak for her and reiterated that he did not know what he did.
Other women followed Sheedy’s tweet but were less vague. Violet Paley and Sarah Tither Kaplan tweeted out detailed accusations against Franco about inappropriate sexual behavior.
In regards to these tweets, he said, “In my life, I pride myself in taking responsibility for things I’ve done. I have to do that to maintain my well-being. I do it whenever something needs to be changed.” He said that things that were out on Twitter were “not accurate.”
He continued, “I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice because they haven’t had a voice for so long. I don’t want to shut them down in any way. It’s a good thing I support.”
Colbert then asked Franco if there is a way to have discussions about sexual harassment allegations outside of social media. The “Late Show” host then asked if there was a way to come to what the truth is and come to some reconciliation between people who clearly have different views of things.
“If I have done something wrong, I will fix it — I have to,” said Franco. “That’s how that works. I don’t know what else to do.”
He then concluded by referring to the Time’s Up movement during the Globes, “The point is to listen. I am here to listen and learn and change perspective where it’s off. I’m completely willing and want to.”