Franco comments on the charges against him for the first time since they became known almost four years ago.
In 2019, he was sued by several former students, who accused him of sexual abuse of power.
The situation happened via Franco’s now closed acting school Studio 4.
Blame it on alcohol addiction
On The Jess Cagle Podcast on radio station Sirius FxM, Franco admits he “slept with students, and that was wrong.”
– At the time, I thought that as long as it happened with consent, it was okay, Franco says.
In the interview, Franco further says that he is sex addicted, and that he is sorry for what happened. He says that the sexual intercourse took place with consent.
He further explains that since 2016 he has tried to get rid of alcohol addiction, and that this has resulted in behavior that he is now ashamed of.
Accused of staging orgies
In June, Franco agreed to pay 2.2 million dollars, barely 20 million kroner, to avoid a lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, the actors accused Franco of forcing students to have sex on camera, and claimed that he staged an “orgy setting” in one of the subjects the school taught.
“Although the defendants believe they are not responsible for any of the allegations, they have agreed to settle in accordance with the terms of the proposed settlement,” Franco’s lawyers wrote in the decision.
Claims not to have thought clearly
The women behind the lawsuit against Franco have previously claimed that the star used the school to create a stream of young women he could have sex with. Franco denies this in the interview.
When asked how he could overlook the fact that the power relationship between him and the students affected the sexual relationship, Franco replied that he did not think clearly.
Franco has once been nominated for an Oscar for best actor for the film “127 hours”.
He is also known from films such as “Spider-Man”, “The Pineapple Express” and “The Disaster Artist”.
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