Actress Charlyne Yi has accused James Franco of being a "sexual predator."
In an Instagram post, the "Knocked Up" star revealed that she had tried to quit filming "The Disaster Artists," which Franco directed and starred in, after multiple women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct — claims which Franco has repeatedly denied.
In 2018 two of Franco’s former students at his now-defunct Studio 4 school filed lawsuits alleging sexual exploitation. A settlement deal was reached in 2019 and in response to the accusations, Franco's lawyers called the claims "false and inflammatory, legally baseless and brought as a class action with the obvious goal of grabbing as much publicity as possible for attention-hungry Plaintiffs," according to Yahoo! Entertainment.
On Thursday, Yi said she did not want to work with Franco because of the allegations.
"When I tried to break legal contract & quit Disaster Artist because James Franco is a sexual predator, they tried to bribe me with a bigger acting role," she wrote in her Instagram post. "I cried and told them that that was the exact opposite to what I wanted, that I didn't feel safe working with a f***ing sexual predator. They minimized & said Franco being a predator was so last yr and that he changed … when I literally heard of him abusing new women that week."
Yi went on to state that predators "will perform empathy, gaslight, & say they will do better — all in order to protect themselves and continue to harm others."
"Denying/gaslighting is a tactic that abusers and enablers use that is psychological violence, & has serious affects: the survivor loses sense of reality/intuition to protect self from targeted again, PTSD, suicidal thoughts/suicide, etc," she wrote. "This month is Sexual Assault Awareness Month when it should really be something men educate themselves about their whole life and learn how to be there & protect women, nonbinary, trans, etc — who are targeted."
In 2018 Franco spoke out against his accusers, insisting that claims made against him were "not accurate" during an appearance on Stephen Colbert’s "The Late Show." The actor was responding to two actresses who made allegations against him on social media as the Golden Globes were broadcast, asking why he was allowed to be in the running for the award and criticizing him for wearing a "Time's Up" pin to show solidarity with victims of sexual misconduct.
Actress Violet Paley tweeted Franco had once tried to force her head toward him as he exposed himself, and that there were other girls with similar stories. She also tweeted he had tried to apologize to her and others over the phone. Paley did say she at one point did have a consensual relationship with Franco.
Ally Sheedy also posted a series of now-deleted tweets hinting that misconduct by Franco was the reason she left the movie and TV business.
Franco told Colbert the Twitter postings were "not accurate," but added, "I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice."
"If there is restitution to be made I will make it. If I have done something wrong, I will fix it. I have to. I’m here to listen and learn and change my perspective where it’s off," he continued. "I have no idea what I did to Ally Sheedy,” Franco also said. “I had nothing but a great time with her. I have total respect for her. I have no idea why she was upset."
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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