James Franco Responded to Allegations of Sexual Misconduct Against Him

On Tuesday, James Franco dropped by The Late Show to chat with Stephen Colbert about his Golden Globe win for The Disaster Artist, but about halfway through the chat, the host pressed him on some troubling sexual misconduct allegations and the criticism he received for donning a "Time's Up" pin at the ceremony.

"You got criticized for wearing that. Do you know why, and do you have a response, do you have anything you want to say about that criticism?"

Franco responded by waxing general about the movement, saying he wants to "support change" and hopes marginalized groups in Hollywood get "positions they've been deprived of." Then he turned his attention to the two women who publicly accused the actor of sexual misconduct and exploitation.

"The things that I heard that were on Twitter are not accurate," Franco said. "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 think it’s a good thing and I support it."

Franco appeared to deny an accusation from actor Violet Paley, who claimed on Twitter Monday that the actor "pushed [her] head down in a car towards [his] exposed penis." Later, she said she had been in a consensual relationship with Franco, and clarified that she was of age at the time of the alleged incident.

Another aspiring actor, Sarah Tither-Kaplan, tweeted about nude scenes she once did for Franco, arguing that she felt they were "exploitative."

Paley and Tither-Kaplan's tweets follow a since-deleted tweet from actor Ally Sheedy which reportedly alluded to misconduct she experienced from Franco. The two worked together on his off-Broadway play, The Long Shrift, in 2014.

It's not the first time Franco has faced a sexual misconduct scandal. Back in 2014, the actor admitted he tried to pick up a 17-year-old on Instagram after messages the two exchanged went public, saying he was "embarrassed" by what went down. Though he's called the recent string of allegations against him "not accurate," they prompted the New York Times to cancel a talk the actor was going to give on Wednesday on his Golden Globe-winning film.

"The event was intended to be a discussion of the making of the film, The Disaster Artist," a Times representative said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter. "Given the controversy surrounding recent allegations, we're no longer comfortable proceeding in that vein."

Disclaimer: James Franco has previously written for VICE.

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