Featured Image Credit: Michael Kovac/Getty
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, Hollywood, Seth Rogen, James Franco
Callum Jones
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, Hollywood, Seth Rogen, James Franco
Seth Rogen has spoken out after James Franco revealed last year their friendship is 'over' after '20 great years together'.
The two actors had been close pals for years after they co-starred in the 1999 cult classic TV show Freaks and Geeks.
They have worked on a slew of projects together, including Pineapple Express, The Interview, This Is The End, and The Disaster Artist.
Back in 2018, multiple women came forward, as well as four of his former pupils, accusing Franco of behavior that was sexually inappropriate or exploitative.
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Actors Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal came forward a year later in 2019 and filed a lawsuit alleging that Franco had engaged in 'sexually charged behaviour towards female students' at his now-defunct acting school.
Franco said the 2018 allegations were 'not accurate', but it was reported in 2021 that he had agreed to pay $2.23m to settle the lawsuit.
The whole ordeal led to the breakdown of his relationship with Rogen.
Speaking of comments made by Franco regarding their friendship, Rogen told Esquire: "Honestly, I absorb so little media that it really wasn’t on my radar."
The publication stated Rogen was 'not surprised to get that question, and he’s clearly not happy about it'.
It's not the first time Rogen has discussed his former friendship with Franco, and he has spoke specifically about supporting him initially before more allegations came to light.
Rogen told The Times, “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."
Last year, Franco spoke about his ex-pal.
"No. I haven’t talked to Seth. I love Seth, we had 20 great years together, but I guess it’s over," he told Variety.
"And not for lack of trying. I’ve told him how much he’s meant to me.
"Being told you’re bad is painful.
"But ultimately, that’s kind of what I needed to just stop going the way I was going."
As a result of the previous allegations, Franco disappeared from Hollywood and made use of his free time.
He continued: "Whatever had been going on with me before, I had to change my whole way of life.
"So I am proud of the kind of work I did during that time. And yeah, I wasn’t working in movies, but I certainly was doing a lot of work to change who I was."