James Francos has agreed to a $2.2 million settlement in the sexual misconduct case he has been fighting for two years.
In 2019, two former students of Franco's now-defunct Studio 4 acting school, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, sued him, claiming the actor engaged in "sexually-charged behavior towards female students."
The lawsuit alleged that Franco pushed his students into performing in increasingly explicit sex scenes on camera in an "orgy type setting" that went far beyond those acceptable on Hollywood film sets. The legal filing further stated that Franco "sought to create a pipeline of young women who were subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education."
Franco has denied the allegations, and his lawyers dismissed the claims as "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.
Reports emerged in February that the case had been settled but specific details of the settlement were only made available on Wednesday, the BBC reported, citing court filings linked to the case.
The proposed settlement will now be put in front of a judge. If it is signed off, Tither-Kaplan will receive $670,500 with $223,500 being deducted for lawyers' fees while Gaal will receive $223,500 with $74,500 paid to lawyers, according to the outlet.
The remaining $1.3 million will be divided among other students that were involved with the case.
A joint statement has been prepared for release in the event that a judge approves the settlement.
"The parties and their counsel are pleased to have resolved portions of this dispute and pending lawsuit," the draft states. "While defendants continue to deny the allegations in the complaint, they acknowledge that plaintiffs have raised important issues; and all parties strongly believe that now is a critical time to focus on addressing the mistreatment of women in Hollywood.
"All agree on the need to make sure that no-one in the entertainment industry - regardless of sex, race, religion, disability, ethnicity, background, gender or sexual orientation - faces discrimination, harassment or prejudice of any kind."
The accusations against Franco have strained his professional and personal life. Most recently, his friend and regular co-star Seth Rogen said he was not planning on working with the actor any time soon. He made the revelation in an interview with the U.K.'s Sunday Times during which he discussed how his friendship with Franco has changed since allegations of sexual misconduct were brought forth against the actor.
"What I can say is that I despise abuse and harassment and I would never cover or conceal the actions of someone doing it, or knowingly put someone in a situation where they were around someone like that," Rogen added.
Related Stories:
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.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.