Seth Rogen explained why he'll likely never work with James Franco again despite them previously collaborating on a number of projects.
Pineapple Express, The Interview, This Is The End - these are only a few of the movies Rogen and Franco have worked on together over the years.
The two actors first became co-stars in 1999 on the show Freaks and Geeks, and the work continued for almost 20 years before concluding with their movie Zeroville, which was released in 2019.
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However, things changed for Rogen in 2018 when Franco was accused by multiple women of sexually inappropriate behavior.
Franco later reached a deal with two of his former acting students, who accused him sexual misconduct, and they agreed to drop their individual claims.
The actor also admitted on SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Podcast that he had slept with some of his acting students while he was working as a teacher.
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“Over the course of my teaching, I did sleep with students, and that was wrong," he said. "But like I said, it’s not why I started the school and I wasn’t the person that selected the people to be in the class.
"So it wasn’t a ‘master plan’ on my part. But yes, there were certain instances where, you know what, I was in a consensual thing with a student and I shouldn’t have been."
In the wake of the allegations, Rogen told The Sunday Times’ Culture magazine that he had changed his mind about working with Franco again, after having previously shared plans for future collaborations.
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“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 said.
Rogen acknowledged the allegations had affected the 20-year connection he had with Franco, saying: “I 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 [...]
"I can say it, um, you know, it has changed many things in our relationship and our dynamic.”
For his part, Franco accepted Rogen's response to the allegations and made clear he held no ill will against his former co-star.
He told Cagle: "I love Seth Rogen. I worked with him for 20 years. We didn't have one fight for 20 years. Not one fight. He was my absolute closest work friend, collaborator. We just gelled.
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"What he said is true. You know, we aren't working together right now and we don't have any plans to work together.
"Of course, it was hurtful, in context, but I get it. He had to answer for me 'cause I was silent. He had to answer for me, and I don't want that. So that's why, that's one of the main reasons I wanted to talk to you today: I don't want Seth or my brother or anyone to have to answer for me anymore."
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, Seth Rogen, James Franco
Emily Brown