James Franco accusers call him “completely insensitive” after interview

BoomRadioNG | December 26, 2021

Lawyers for two of the women accusing actor James Franco of sexual misconduct have said his admission that he had sex with students from his acting school is “completely insensitive”.

The statement, given to US media by lawyers for actresses Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, said the star was “blind about power dynamics”.

They called the drama school a “sham”.

Franco told a podcast earlier this week that while teaching, he “did sleep with students, and that was wrong”.

James Franco

A statement from two law firms added: “It is unbelievable that even after agreeing to a settlement he continues to downplay the survivors’ experiences and ignore their pain, despite acknowledging he had no business starting such a school in the first place.

“In addition to being blind about power dynamics, Franco is completely insensitive to, and still apparently does not care about, the immense pain and suffering he put his victims through with this sham of an acting school.”

They said his behaviour “wasn’t a misunderstanding over a course name, it wasn’t the result of him being overworked – it was, and is, despicable conduct”.

They added that “nobody should confuse this interview with Franco taking accountability for his actions or expressing remorse over what happened”, calling it a “transparent ducking of the real issues released just before a major holiday in hopes that he wouldn’t face any scrutiny over his response”.

Tither-Kaplan said on Twitter: “Platforming abusers while excluding survivors causes even further harm. Survivor blacklisting is still a very real problem.”

Paul Ayorinde