Franco gets backlash at Golden Globes
Like many of his peers, James Franco turned up at the Golden Globe Awards Sunday night wearing the black-and-white pin to support the evening’s Time’s Up anti-sexual harassment message.
But shortly after winning best actor for “The Disaster Artist,” the Palo Alto native’s name was lighting up Twitter — and not just because some people were annoyed that he didn’t let Tommy Wiseau, the eccentric director and inspiration behind his “Disaster Artist” performance, speak.
Actress Ally Sheedy found Franco’s presence upsetting enough that she tweeted about it. Her tweets were cryptic, and she quickly deleted them after they gained notice by Vanity Fair and other publications, but they hinted that Franco’s past might include sexual misconduct.
One of Sheedy’s tweets read, “James Franco just won. Please never ever ask me why I left the film/tv business.” Another tweet from her earlier in the night said: “Why is a man hosting? Why is James Franco allowed in? Said too much.”
Many users retweeted and replied to the messages, which they took to imply that the “Breakfast Club” star was accusing the 1996 Palo Alto High School graduate of some sort of sexual misconduct.
Franco in 2014 directed Sheedy in an Off-Broadway production of “The Long Shrift,” Vulture reported. But there was nothing in her posts that indicated she was referring to that experience. The Cut and other publications reached out to the actress for comment.
Others on Twitter wondered if Sheedy’s comments referred to headlines Franco made, also in 2014, for reportedly trying to arrange a meetup with a 17-year-old girl at a New York hotel.
Franco, 39, had tried to contact the girl, who was visiting New York from Scotland, via social media after encountering her outside his Broadway production of “Of Mice and Men,” Business Insider reported. He allegedly offered to rent a room to spend time with the “almost 18”-year-old.
After the girl went public with their online exchange, Franco appeared on “Live With Kelly & Michael” and acknowledged he had messaged her. He said that he was “embarrassed,” had “used bad judgment” and that “social media is tricky,” Fox News reported.