James Franco Accused of Sexually Exploitative Behavior By 5 Women

Five women have come forward to accuse James Franco of both “inappropriate” and sexually exploitative” behavior.

The Los Angeles Times published an expose, where four of his students came forward. One of the women said James was her mentor.

Franco began Studio 4, a film school, in Los Angeles and New York back in 2014. One of his students, Hilary Dusome, recalled that he once asked a group of women to take off their tops for a shoot.

“I felt like I was selected for something based on my hard work and my merit, and when I realized it was because I have nice [breasts], it was pretty clear that was not the case,” Hilary said. “I don’t think he started teaching with bad intentions, but he went down a bad path and damaged a lot of people in the process.”

“He just took advantage of our eagerness to work and be a part of something bigger,” another student, Natalie Chmiel, said. “We were all these up-and-coming actors who were so hopeful.”

Another woman, Violet Paley, began a romantic relationship with him. She recalled a moment where he pressured her into performing oral sex while sitting in a car. “I was talking to him, all of a sudden his penis was out. 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,” she said.

A former acting student, Sarah Tither-Kaplan, recalled another time where Franco filmed an orgy scene and none of the women present were wearing clothing. Franco kept removing the plastic guards over their genitals, so that there was no protection between the women.

The report also brought up the time back in 2014 when he tried to get a 17-year-old to come to his hotel room.

Franco just won a 2018 Golden Globe for his work on The Disaster Artist.