James Franco is being sued by ex-students for exhibiting ‘inappropriate and sexually charged behavior’ while supervising acting school in 2014
- Franco is being accused of sexual misconduct by two former students of his Studio 4 acting school
- Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal say the actor engaged in ‘inappropriate and sexually charged behavior toward female students’
- He is alleged to have promised people roles for participating in nude and/or sexually suggestive scenes
- Franco allegedly removed plastic genital guards from the performers ‘vaginas’ in order to ‘simulate oral sex on them’ while a scene of an ‘orgy’ was performed
- Franco’s acting school, Playhouse West Studio 4, began in 2014, offering to teach the Meisner method, as practiced by Franco. It abruptly closed in 2017
- The actor’s partner Vince Jolivette, and his cousin, Jay Davis, are also named in the lawsuit
- A lawyer for The Interview star said in a statement that Franco has yet to be served with the complaint, and that the allegations ‘have already been debunked’
Two women who were enrolled in James Franco’s former film school have sued the movie star claiming he and their partners dangled film and TV jobs to them and other aspiring actors in exchange for sexual improprieties and exploitation.
A class action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Thursday also claims ‘Franco’s targets’ were duped of pay for their exploitation through his acting school, which the plaintiffs argued was a fraud designed to benefit the actor and his production companies.
‘Employment opportunities for women supposedly increased when they agreed to overt sexual acts, nudity and performing in sex scenes – often in an orgy type setting,’ reads the 33-page complaint.
Two women who were enrolled in James Franco’s former film school have sued the movie star (pictured above) claiming he and his partners dangled film and TV jobs to them in exchange for ‘explicit nudity, sex’ and as Franco put it, ‘the pushing of boundaries’
The former students, Sarah Tither-Kaplan (pictured above) and Toni Gaal, are among actresses who have come forward to publicly call Franco out for alleged sexually inappropriate and exploitative behavior
The former students, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, are among actresses who have come forward to publicly call Franco out for alleged sexually inappropriate and exploitative behavior, first after his appearance at the 2018 Golden Globes and later in a Los Angeles Times expose.
Similarly, the lawsuit accused Franco of creating ‘an environment of harassment and sexual exploitation’ at his Studio 4 acting and film academy, which was shuttered in 2017.
The class action seeks out other women who’ve had similar complaints to join the suit.
The Disaster Artist actor allegedly took advantage of his role as instructor by persuading female students to disrobe and/or engage in sexually-charged stage scenes with the suggestion they would get cast in one of his projects.
James and his partners in the school, Vince Jolivette and Jay Davis, through the academy and their various production companies opted to ‘sexualize their power and fame’ by dangling opportunities to students.
Both Jolivette and Davis, who are cousins, are also named as defendants in the complaint. They are alleged to have recruited women along with ‘various other ‘scouts’ tasked with the job of seeking out young, naive women between the ages of 17 [and] 24 because these women would not know how the film industry functioned,’ the suit claims.
Legal trouble: James Franco is being sued by two former students over sexual impropriety. The star is seen above in April while on the set of his HBO show The Deuce
The school’s two-year program promised to teach students the Meisner method, ‘as practiced by Franco while giving them the ability to audition and be hired as talent for RabbitBandini Productions,’ the suit claims, making a reference to one of the actor’s production firms, all the while ‘sexually exploiting and humiliating female studens and actors.’
The complaint alleges that monthly tuition fees were used to fund Franco’s productions, which violates California’s ‘pay for play’ regulations, and lured students in by ‘providing them false hopes of acquiring job opportunities.’
The alleged incidents are purported to have taken place in 2014, the same year the school opened in Los Angeles, as well as with a location in New York. Tither-Kaplan enrolled in the school in February of that year and Gaal in April.
According to documents related to the case, Franco offered roles in films he was either producing or directing in exchange for the actresses performing explicit scenes or engaging in sexually-charged auditions for him.
Tither-Kaplan and Gaal’s suit alleged that the Palo Alto actor/writer eschewed current film industry guidelines for nude scenes.
Documents from the case say that Franco ‘routinely pressured to engage in simulated sex acts that went far beyond the standards in the industry.’
Gaal claims that she was denied entry to a special ‘sex scenes master class’ for expressing her concern over the class. ‘She was told by a male employee to ‘grow thicker skin’ and stop being so sensitive,’ the suit claims.
Meanwhile, Tither-Kaplan says she was permitted to join the class and was also given roles in Franco productions, but only after required to shoot nude scenes or sex scenes.
Casting couch? The Deuce actor (seen above on the show) allegedly took advantage of his role as instructor by persuading female students to disrobe and/or engage in sexually-charged stage scenes with the suggestion they would get cast in one of his projects
Also… He owned the school with partner Vince Jolivette, above 2015, who is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit
‘Plaintiff Tither-Kaplan’s willingness to push boundaries and do whatever it took to create a scene that Franco would approve of led to additional opportunities (which were then revoked after she voiced concerns),’ the lawsuit claims.
During their time at the school, Tither-Kaplan and Gaal paid monthly tuition of about $300.
While they were previously promised exclusive auditions for Franco’s independent projects, the women say the school made the auditions open to other actors as well.
While initial tuition was only in the hundreds of dollars, the women said the school’s additional ‘master classes’ could cost as much as $2000 a piece.
Among these offerings was a $750 course specializing in ‘sex scenes.’
According to the suit, prospective sex scene master class students had to audition via video tape so that Franco could ‘review the material’ on his own time.
By giving Franco the tapes, however, they were required to sign away their rights to said recordings.
During the sex scene workshop, the women alleged that ‘often young and inexperienced females.. were routinely pressured to engage in simulated sex acts that went far beyond the standards in the industry.’
The women in the class are said to have been denied the protection of nudity riders or other film industry guidelines pertaining to sex scenes.
Tither-Kaplan, pictured above, was among the first alleged victims to come forward after Franco’s appearance at the 2018 Golden Globes, where he walked away with a win for best actor in a musical or comedy for his role in ‘The Disaster Artist, and wore a ‘Time’s Up,’ pin
Tither-Kaplan’s tweet pictured above was among several made after Franco’s appearance at the Golden Globes, alleging sexual improprieties and exploitation
A lawyer for The Interview star, Michael Plonsker, told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement Thursday that Franco has yet to be served with the complaint, and said the allegations ‘have already been debunked’ in the past.
The statement read: ‘This is not the first time that these claims have been made and they have already been debunked. We have not had an opportunity to review the ill-informed Complaint in depth since it was leaked to the press before it was filed and our client has yet to even be served.’
Plonsker continued: ‘James will not only fully defend himself, but will also seek damages from the plaintiffs and their attorneys for filing this scurrilous publicity seeking lawsuit.’
The lawsuit recalls Franco’s appearance at the 2018 Golden Globes, where he walked away with a win for best actor in a musical or comedy for his role in ‘The Disaster Artist, and wore a ‘Time’s Up,’ pin, prompting the initial allegations of sexual improprieties and exploitation made against him.
‘Hey James Franco, nice #timesup pin at the #GoldenGlobes, remember a few weeks ago when you told me the full nudity you had me do in two of your movies for $100/day wasn’t exploitative because I signed a contract to do it? Times up on that!’ tweeted Tither-Kaplan. who was among the first alleged vicitms at the time.
She at that point had appeared in short films with Franco for over three years after enrolling at his school.
Also speaking out against Franco was Violet Paley, who tweeted: ‘Cute #TIMESUP pin James Franco. Remember the time you pushed my head down in a car towards your exposed penis & that other time you told my friend to come to your hotel when she was 17? After you had already been caught doing that to a different 17 year old?’
Also speaking out against Franco after his appearance at the 2018 Golden Globes was Violet Paley (pictured above) who alleged in a tweet that the actor ‘pushed my head down in a car towards your exposed penis’
Accusation: Paley said: ‘& that other time you told my friend to come to your hotel when she was 17? After you had already been caught doing that to a different 17 year old?’
Paley, an actress, writer and director living in Los Angeles, later clarified her tweet by writing: ‘Just to be clear I wasn’t 17, I was an adult.’
The age of consent in both New York and California is 17.
Paley was accused by one man of only speaking up after Franco took home the Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical prize at the Golden Globes on Sunday, to which she replied: ‘Hey dude, I get that it looks like that and 3 other girls and I have all spoken up before this. But this time it actually got attention because he’s trending. Thanks for your concern!’
Paley also liked a number of tweets posted by others calling out Franco and his hypocrisy for wearing a Time’s Up pin to the ceremony.
Franco was all smiles and signing autographs after his Golden Globe when he was spotted catching a flight at Los Angeles International Airport.
Tither-Kaplan later was among five actresses who came forward in a Los Angeles Times expose about the alleged sexual improprieties and exploitation at the school
‘If I have done something wrong I will fix it. I have to,’ said Franco in response to the public outcry, and in a quote that is repeated in the lawsuit.
‘But the truth is that James Franco and the other defendants, have committed egregious wrongs to hundreds of student actors and have done nothing to fix these wrongs,’ the suit claims.
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