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Seth Rogen says he is no longer working with his longtime collaborator James Franco. In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Rogen opened up about how his relationship with Franco has changed since Franco was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women.
Franco was accused of sexual misconduct by five women in 2018, and in 2014, tried to meet up with a 17-year-old girl through Instagram when he was 35 years old. Franco has denied the allegations from the five women — which included inappropriate and sexually exploitative behavior — but settled with two of them in February.
In a recent Instagram post, actor Charlyne Yi called Franco a “sexual predator” and accused Rogen of “enabling” his behavior. In response to Yi’s comments, Rogen told The Times, “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.”
The actor also brought up a joke he made in the past about Franco’s misconduct allegations. “I do look back at a joke I made on Saturday Night Live in 2014 and I very much regret making that joke. It was a terrible joke, honestly,” Rogen said. When he hosted SNL, Rogen joked, “I decided to prank James Franco. I posed as a girl on Instagram, told him I was way young. He seemed unfazed. I have a date to meet him at the Ace Hotel.”
Rogen’s comments come after he defended Franco in 2018, telling Vulture at the time that his perspective on the sexual misconduct allegations “is the least relevant perspective.” He added, “I’m friends with these people and I’m a dude,” and said he’d still work with Franco on future projects. Now, Rogen says he won’t collaborate with Franco. “I also look back to that interview in 2018 where I comment that I would keep working with James, and the truth is that I have not and I do not plan to right now,” he told The Times.
When asked if the allegations affected their personal relationship as friends, Rogen replied, “I don’t know if I can define that right now during this interview,” he said. “I can say it, um, you know, it has changed many things in our relationship and our dynamic.” Rogen added that while it was hard to see his relationship with Franco change, it wasn’t “as painful and difficult as it is for a lot of other people involved. I have no pity for myself in this situation.”
Over the years, Franco and Rogen have worked on multiple projects together, including the cult classic series Freaks and Geeks, plus Pineapple Express, The Disaster Artist, The Interview, This Is the End, Sausage Party and more. Since the allegations came out, Franco has taken on smaller roles, most recently appearing in 2020’s Kill the Czar.
Read Rogen’s full interview on the Sunday Times website.
