After six years away from the public eye, James Franco is reemerging. The Pineapple Express star attended a Cannes party, marking one of his few public appearances since 2018, following allegations of inappropriate behavior towards students at his now-closed film school.
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, five women, including multiple students from Franco’s Studio 4 film school, accused him of sexual misconduct. Over a year later, on October 3, 2019, two Studio 4 students filed a lawsuit against Franco and his associates, alleging that the school was a scheme to provide Franco and his male collaborators access to young female performers they could exploit. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claimed that Franco and his collaborators created “an environment of harassment and sexual exploitation both in and out of the class,” and engaged in widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behavior towards female students, abusing their power as teachers by promising roles in their projects. One student recounted performing in an orgy scene with Franco, during which she said Franco allegedly removed actresses’ vaginal guards while simulating oral sex on them.
Franco’s lawyer, Michael Plonsker, stated at the time that Franco would “fully defend himself” and seek damages from the plaintiffs and their attorneys for filing the “scurrilous publicity-seeking lawsuit.” By February 11, 2021, the lawsuit had reached a settlement, and Franco later agreed to pay more than $2.2 million in damages that June. In an interview on the podcast The Jess Cagle Show later that year, Franco admitted to having sexual relationships with his students, acknowledging, “Over the course of my teaching, I did sleep with students, and that was wrong.”
Since the allegations, Franco has largely stayed out of the spotlight. According to his IMDb page, his last project was voicing a character in the 2019 animated film Arctic Dogs, though he has several upcoming projects, including Alina of Cuba, a biopic of Fidel Castro’s daughter. According to the Daily Mail, Franco attended the exclusive Nespresso party at Cannes 2024, spending the evening in the heavily guarded VIP section. He is in Cannes to promote his new film, The Razor’s Edge, directed by Demian Lichtenstein and co-starring Tommy Lee Jones, which is set to begin filming in June.
After the party, Armani released a press statement listing the stars it had dressed for Cannes, initially including Franco along with actors Raymond Lam, Giancarlo Esposito, and Shia LaBeouf, who also faces misconduct allegations. Shortly after the first release, Armani issued an amended statement that omitted Franco. Vanity Fair reached out to Armani for comment.
