Content Warning: This article about James Franco discusses sexual harassment and misconduct. If you or someone you know is affected by the following story, you are not alone. To speak to someone, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
James Franco is paying a $2.2 million lawsuit in relation to the sexual assault allegations he faced in 2019.
Earlier this year Franco reportedly had settled the lawsuit with his accusers, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal.
Tither-Kaplan and Gaal, two former students at the now defunct Studio 4 film school filed their lawsuit back in 2019 against Fracno, his business partner and their production company Rabbit Bandini.
Their claim alleged that they “engaged in widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behavior towards female students by sexualizing their power as a teacher and an employer by dangling the opportunity for roles in their projects.”
The lawsuit details that Franco pressured Studio 4 students to perform in increasingly explicit filmed sex scenes in an “orgy type setting” in a master class on sex scenes. The lessons allegedly ignored film-industry guidelines on how actors should be treated whilst filming a nude scene.
The suit claims that students were denied the protections of nudity riders, and the class preyed upon “often young and inexperienced females” who “were routinely pressured to engage in simulated sex acts that went far beyond the standards in the industry.”
As reported by Consequence, the $2.2 million is set to be divided between the students, with Tither-Kaplan receiving $670,500 less $223,500 in fees which will be going to her lawyers.
Gaal will receive $223,500 less $74,500 which will be directed towards her lawyers. The other students from the Studio 4 class will receive the remaining $1.341 million, with their lawyers taking around $827,000.
Earlier this year, Franco’s long-time collaborator Seth Rogen addressed the sexual assault allegations against Franco. He said, “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.”
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