5 Women Come Forward, Accuse Actor James Franco of Inappropriate Sexual Behavior

ByJayme Kennedy

When James Franco accepted his award for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes, he wore a smile and a significant lapel pin. The pin, which said Time’s Up, was a nod to the movement started in December by powerful women in Hollywood. It’s focus is on ending the epidemic of sexual harassment and abuse against women across several industries. But in the days following Franco’s win, a different story has emerged. 5 women have come forward, alleging that Franco acted in an inappropriate and exploitative sexual way towards them.

Four of the women who’ve accused James Franco of sexually inappropriate behavior were students of his. One called him her mentor.

One of the women, Sarah Tither-Kaplan, appeared in several of Franco’s productions. She told The L.A. Times that during a nude orgy scene she filmed with the actor and several women, Franco removed the plastic guards covering the actresses’ vaginas while simulating oral sex on them.

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Said Tither-Kaplan, “I feel there was an abuse of power, and there was a culture of exploiting non-celebrity women, and a culture of women being replaceable.”

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Two other women recalled being subjected to bad on-set experiences. Allegedly, Franco would become upset and lose his temper when no women at the shoot would agree to be topless. Hilary Dusome took a class from Franco in 2012. She was asked to participate in a shoot for a 7 for All Mankind clothing commercial. On-set, Dusome says that Franco asked, “”So, who wants to take your shirt off?” When no one agreed, Franco stormed off the set.

This is not the first time James Franco has been accused of being a predator. In 2014, he was exposed after he tried to arrange a meeting in a hotel room with 17-year old girl he met on Instagram.

Franco eventually admitted to trying to meet up with the teenager, during an interview on Live with Kelly and Michael. During the interview, he said, “I’m guess I’m, you know, embarrassed, and I guess I’m just a model of how social media is tricky.” However, he admitted to using “bad judgement”.

Franco addressed the accusations during an interview with Stephen Colbert. “The things that I 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.”

He also denied the allegations through his attorney.

(Image: Facebook / Golden Globes)

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