Hollywood star James Franco has responded to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against him throughout his career, in his now closed “Studio 4” acting school, on the sets of his independent films and while starring in a Broadway show. its recent appearance at the The Jess Cagle Show of SiriusXM, the actor spoke at length about the allegations made by former students of Studio 4, who settled with Franco for the sum of 2.2 million dollars following a class action for sexual exploitation and fraud.
Franco said the masterclass linked to many of the charges in the lawsuit – filed in 2019 by actresses Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal – had a “provocative” name but did not involve real sex scenes, despite being called “Sex Scenes”. While the actor denied allegations about what happened in his class, which included making students perform increasingly explicit sex scenes by creating an “orgy-like setting,” the lawyers representing his accusers in the class action have responded to his statements.
According to what the lawyers say, the action was not born out of “a misunderstanding about the name of a course” but out of what “was, and is, despicable conduct”. The statement goes on to state that Franco is not only “blinded by the dynamics of power” but “completely insensitive” to the pain and suffering experienced by his accusers at his hands “with this pretense of an acting school.” “It is incredible that even after accepting a deal he continues to downplay the victims’ experiences and ignore their pain, despite acknowledging that he had no right to start such a school,” say Valli Kane & Vagnini LLP and Hadsell, Stormer Renick & Dai LLP, the law firms representing Franco’s accusers in the litigation against him and his production company Rabbit Bandini Productions.
«Nobody gets confused by this interview with Franco as if he is taking responsibility for his actions or expressing remorse for what happened -, the statement continues -. It’s dodging real problems by making a statement just before an important party, in the hope that he won’t have to face any contradictions about his answer. ” During the program, Franco admits that he slept with a student, and concedes that the other teachers have made it clear to him that “it probably wasn’t a good thing.” He, however, denies that he was in the class related to the class action. The actor also finds himself facing the accusation that, with the launch of Studio 4, “he tried to create a channel of young women who were then subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education” .
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