James Franco Talks Seth Rogen Friendship Fallout After Allegations: ‘I Guess It’s Over’

James Franco confirmed he still has not spoken with Seth Rogen since their relationship fell apart after Franco was accused of sexual misconduct.

Franco briefly discussed his erstwhile friendship/collaborative partnership with Rogen, as well the years since his “cancellation,” in a new interview with Variety centered around his new movie, Hey Joe. 

“I haven’t talked to Seth,” he said. “I love Seth, we had 20 great years together, but I guess it’s over. And not for lack of trying. I’ve told him how much he’s meant to me.”

Rogen himself said in a 2021 interview that it was “not a coincidence” that his working relationship with Franco had ended when the allegations against him were raised. Of working with Franco again, Rogen said, “The truth is that I have not and I do not plan to right now.” 

Franco faced a handful of misconduct allegations during the 2010s, including a claim from his ex, actress Violet Paley, who said Franco forced her to perform oral sex on him while they were in a car together (Franco denied that claim). In 2018, several women accused Franco of “inappropriate or sexually exploitative” behavior while he served as their acting teacher. A lawsuit was brought in 2019 and settled in 2021. That same year, Franco did admit to sleeping with several of his students in an interview. 

Franco’s last major movie came out in 2019, though he’s returned to the screen this year with two films, Hey Joe and The Price of Money: A Largo Winch Adventure, both of which are European productions. He has several other projects in the works — including a film directed by Vincent Gallo that was dogged by its own round of allegations — though the status of those films is unclear.
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Franco said he was “grateful to be working” as an actor again, and of his hiatus, he noted: “I wasn’t working in movies, but I certainly was doing a lot of work to change who I was.” He said that before the allegations against him brought his career to a halt, he was a “workaholic” who always focused on the next project. Franco said, now, he’s able to “just be there for the project,” and is no longer “trying to fill some hole with work.” 

Asked if he felt he was unfairly “cast out of Hollywood,” Franco said, “I mean, it is what it is. I’ve honestly moved past it. It was dealt with, and I got to change. So that’s it, it’s over. I mean, I’ve worked in the U.S. too. So I’m just trying to move on.”