James Franco addresses sexual misconduct accusations

James Franco has addressed the accusations of sexual harassment which have emerged following his Best Actor win at the Golden Globes on Sunday night.

A number of women have made allegations on social media, one claiming that he exposed himself to her in a car and pushed her head into his lap.

Actress Ally Sheedy also took to Twitter, in messages that have since disappeared, with remarks suggesting previous impropriety.

Franco directed Sheedy in a play on Broadway in 2014, though she did not make a specific allegation.

Appearing on The Last Show last night, he told host Stephen Colbert that the accusations are ‘not accurate’.

Speaking about the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, he said: “First, I want to say that I do support it. Look, I was so excited to win but being in that room that night was incredible. It was powerful. I support change.”

The Golden Globes-winning actor was accused on Twitter of sexual misconduct.

Colbert then brought up the allegations on social media, to which he replied: “There were some things on Twitter, I haven’t read them. I’ve heard about them.

“I have no idea what I did to Ally Sheedy. I directed her in a play Off Broadway. I had nothing but a great time with her, total respect for her. I have no idea why she was so upset. She took the tweet down. I don’t know. I can’t speak for her, I don’t know.

“The others, look, in my life I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I’ve done. I have to do that to maintain my well-being. I do it whenever I know that there is something wrong or needs to be changed, I make it a point to do it.

“The things that I heard that were on Twitter are not accurate, but I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice because they didn’t have a voice for so long. So, I don’t want to shut them down in any way. It’s a good thing and I support it.”

Franco was scheduled to appear at a talk held by the New York Times later today with his brother Dave, who also stars in his movie The Disaster Artist, but the event has since been cancelled.

“The event was intended to be a discussion of the making of the film, ‘The Disaster Artist.’ Given the controversy surrounding recent allegations, we’re no longer comfortable proceeding in that vein,” the New York Times said in a statement to Variety.

Actress Violet Paley was among those who took aim at Franco, tweeting on Sunday:

She then tweeted yesterday that Franco had called her to offer an apology.

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