Seth Rogen and James Franco were once close friends, frequent collaborators, and cast mates in a number of titles.
In 2018, five women accused the actor of sexually inappropriate or exploitative behaviour while they were students at his acting school, allegations which he denied, he was 'cast out' of Hollywood.
Rogen and Franco had been good friends for the best part of two decades after starring in cult classic TV show Freaks and Geeks in 1999.
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They produced a number of American comedy classics in the years following, with the likes of Pineapple Express, This Is the End, and The Interview starring the two, among other popular comedic actors at the time.
But ever since they shot The Disaster Artist together in 2017, the pair have not worked together.
Rogen's most recent comments
But as Franco, who turns 47 on Saturday (19 April), confirmed in recent years that their friendship was effectively 'over', Rogen spoke in February this year about their relationship while promoting his new show, The Studio, during an Esquire profile.
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Interviewer David Holmes asked how it was like 'to have something so personal become so public', noting that Rogen was not surprised nor pleased to receive the question.
“Honestly, I absorb so little media that it really wasn’t on my radar”, he answered, with the interview noting ‘that is all he wants to say about that’.
The question was in reference to Franco's comments made in a Variety piece at the end of 2024, where the actor said: “I haven’t talked to Seth.
“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."
Previous comments from Rogen
While Rogen initially came out and said in 2018 he would continue to work with Franco, he later walked these comments back in 2021, saying: “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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“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.”
What was Franco accused of?
During the press tour for The Disaster Artist, which had been eyed for Franco’s second Oscar nomination, five young women came forward to allege that the actor had been sexually inappropriate with them.
This allegedly happened while he acted in the position of either their mentor or teacher at an acting school he had started.
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Franco was accused of creating the school to facilitate a ‘pipeline’ of young women to sleep with him. Though he denied the idea of the ‘pipeline’, he admitted to sleeping with students in the past, which he later described as 'wrong'.
"I suppose at the time, my thinking was: If it's consensual, it's OK." he said on Jess Cagle Podcast in 2021.
He was sued by two of his former students in 2019 on allegations of 'sexually charged behaviour towards female students', which his representatives denied, calling the claims 'false and inflammatory'.
Franco later paid $2.2 million (£1.6m) to settle the case in 2021, the BBC reports.
The actor was also accused by an ex-girlfriend of ‘forcing’ her to perform oral sex on him in a car and Freaks and Geeks co-star Busy Phillips accused him of ‘violently’ shoving her to the ground and screaming at her while filming a scene.
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Franco denied the allegation by his ex-girlfriend via his lawyers, stating the allegations were 'not accurate', while Phillips stated that he has 'apologised' to her.
Additional words by Michael Slavin.
Topics: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Celebrity News, Film
Joshua Nair