FRANCO SEX SLEAZE
WOMEN: HE’S A SICKO, NOT AN ALLY
JAMES FRANCO’S Golden Globe lost some of its luster after actresses went on Twitter and accused him of inappropriate behavior.
Almost immediately after the actor scooped up a trophy for “The Disaster Artist” Sunday, on a night the industry spoke out against sexual harassment, Franco came under attack.
Actress Violet Paley claimed the actor once sexually assaulted her and tried to lure her 17-year-old friend to his hotel room.
“Cute #TimesUp pin James Franco. Remember the time you pushed my head down in a car towards your exposed penis & that other time you told my friend to come to your hotel when she was 17? After you had already been caught doing that to a different 17 year old?” she wrote on Twitter.
Paley (photo left), who clarified that she was an adult and not a teen at the time, added that she did have a consensual relationship with Franco, but that the alleged encounter she mentioned was against her will.
The Daily News was not able to independently confirm that Paley had a relationship with Franco. The age of consent in New York is 17, but it’s unclear where Franco allegedly propositioned Paley’s friend.
Paley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sarah Tither-Kaplan, who was once a student of Franco’s at his acting school, alleged that Franco exploited her by asking her to strip down on set for only $100 per day after she signed a “vague and general at best” contract.
“Remember a few weeks ago when you told me the full nudity you had me do in two of your movies for $100/day wasn’t exploitative because I signed a contract to do it? Times up on that!” she tweeted. “I 100% did not feel like I had a choice to say no.”
She also called out Franco for allegedly failing to give actresses speaking roles unless the part involved nudity.
Tither-Kaplan did not specify on which film sets the nude scene occurred, but the two currently have a film titled “The Long Home” in postproduction.
“If a famous actor who has the ability to make or break my career with the snap of his fingers offers me a part, I don’t have bargaining power. I need work. I need to eat. I need a career,” she tweeted.
She declined to comment to The News, which was not able to confirm either Paley or Tither-Kaplan’s allegations.
Reps for Franco did not immediately return a request for comment.
Paley and Tither-Kaplan were not the only ones to hint at something more sinister beneath Franco’s Golden Globes grin.
During the show’s broadcast, “The Breakfast Club” actress Ally Sheedy shared a series of cryptic tweets naming the actor.
Sheedy (photo right), who starred in the Franco-directed Off-Broadway play “The Long Shrift” in 2014, did not accuse Franco of anything, but took issue with his presence at the show.
“Why is a man hosting? Why is James Franco allowed in? Said too much,” Sheedy wrote a since-deleted tweet.
At the awards show, Franco was one of many stars who wore a pin in support of Time’s Up, an initiative more than 300 women in Hollywood launched to fight sexual misconduct and give a voice to those without a platform.
Franco, 39, came under fire in 2014 after he attempted to pick up a 17-year-old girl over social media. The girl, who was visiting New York from Scotland at the time, met Franco outside his Broadway production of “Of Mice and Men,” and they began to exchange Instagram messages, which eventually leaked online.
Franco himself has not responded to any of the allegations, but said Sunday night backstage at the Golden Globes that it’s “everyone’s responsibility” to stand up against sexual harassment and make change in
Hollywood.