Seth Rogen explains 'regret' over James Franco underage girls joke he made live on SNL

Seth Rogen explained his ‘regret’ over making a joke about James Franco live on SNL in an interview where he discussed his split from the actor he worked with for almost 20 years.

Rogen and Franco first met on Freaks and Geeks in 1999, working on a number of projects together until The Disaster Artist in 2017, their last film together.

When Franco was accused of sexual misconduct in 2018 by five members of an acting school he ran however, Rogen distanced himself from his Pineapple Express co-star.

The last film James Franco and Seth Rogen starred in together was with The Disaster Artist, which Dave Franco also appeared in (Matt Winkelmeyer via Getty Images)

In that interview, Rogen also expressed ‘regret’ over the joke he made about Franco in 2014.

The ‘joke’ stemmed from an incident that occurred in which Franco was revealed to have been texting a 17-year-old girl on Instagram when he was 36.

Texts leaked online showed him asking if she had a boyfriend and if she wanted to meet up.

The SNL joke came during Rogen’s monologue in which he read out a journal entry to the crowd.

It read: “To make myself feel better I decided to prank James Franco. I posed as a girl on Instagram, told him I was way young. He seemed unfazed. I have a date to meet him at the Ace Hotel.”

The joke is met with whoops and cheers, but in the wider context of Franco’s accusations of various misdemeanours against women, it is one Rogen came to regret.

In a 2021 interview Rogen said: “I do look back at a joke I made on Saturday Night Live in 2014 and I very much regret making that joke. It was a terrible joke, honestly.”

When discussing the controversy surrounding messaging the 17-year-old girl at the time, Franco said: “It’s the way that people meet each other today, but what I’ve learned – I guess because I’m new to it – is you don’t know who’s on the other end.

“You don’t know who you’re talking to. I used bad judgement and I learned my lesson.”

Rogen also stated he did not see himself working with Franco in the future due to the accusations of sexual exploitation and misconduct from former students, with two students eventually suing the actor.

Rogen regretted the joke in retrospect (NBC)

The suit was eventually agreed to be dropped after reaching a financial settlement with both parties.

Rogen went on to say in the interview: “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.”

Though Franco denied the allegations against him, he admitted to sleeping with students while running his acting school in a later interview.

The news has come back into the media cycle this week after Rogen was asked about comments Franco made to Variety, in which he 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.”

In a new interview with Esquire, Rogen said: “Honestly, I absorb so little media that it really wasn’t on my radar.”

The writer added after this, noting that he seemed annoyed, if not surprised, by the question: “That is all he wants to say about that.”