Evan Goldberg, the longtime producing partner of Seth Rogen, has addressed Dave Franco being cast in their newest project together.
This comes in light of James Franco revealing that his friendship with Rogen was ‘over’ after the Superbad actor cut ties with him following allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault.
James Franco was accused by five students from his acting school of sexual misconduct and exploitative behaviour.
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While the actor admitted to sleeping with students, he denied allegations he used his school to lure young women to have sex with him.
This, and allegations from an ex-girlfriend that Franco had forced her to perform oral sex on him, led Rogen to come out and say that he ‘despises abuse’ and will not be working with his longtime collaborator moving forward.
His newest show, The Studio, features Rogen working alongside Dave Franco for the first time since the allegations against Dave’s brother surfaced.
The actor has yet to comment on the allegations about his brother, but he has not been linked to James' misconduct in any way.
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Many will still, however, be surprised to see Rogen and Dave Franco working together again, given potential awkwardness due to his brother’s detoriorated relationship with the Pineapple Express star.
James Franco said in an interview that his and Rogen’s friendship was over, adding that it was ‘not for lack of trying. I’ve told him how much he’s meant to me’.
Rogen was asked about this claim in a recent Esquire cover story, with the actor simply responding saying: “Honestly, I absorb so little media that it really wasn't on my radar.”
The Studio, starring Rogen as a movie executive, features numerous celebrity cameos playing themselves.
These include Martin Scorsese, Ice Cube, Zoë Kravitz, Charlize Theron, Johnny Knoxville, and of course, Dave Franco playing himself.
Evan Goldberg spoke exclusively to the LADbible group about the upcoming series, for which he is an Executive Producer, and addressed whether he had any concerns around casting Franco in the show.
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Goldberg said: “No, no, we've been working with Davey [Franco] for a long, long time, ever since Neighbours, and we've known him… He was in Superbad back then, so we've known him forever.
“He was just the person that came up in our minds for this Ron Howard film that is a film within our [series] for Alphabet City.
“Yeah, it was just - he was the natural, selected choice.”
The show focuses on Rogen taking over a fictional film studio called Continental Studios, within which Dave stars in the made-up film within the series.
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James Franco has referenced his brother and Rogen together in one previous interview with the Jess Cagle podcast on SiriusXM.
He said that Rogen’s comments saying he would not work with him were ‘hurtful’ but that ‘He had to answer for me ‘cause I was silent’.
James Franco went on to say: “He had to answer for me, and that’s why I am doing this interview. I don't want Seth or my brother to have to answer for me anymore.”
The Studio will premiere globally on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes on 26 March followed by one episode every Wednesday until 21 May.
Topics: James Franco, Seth Rogen, TV, TV and Film, Entertainment
Michael Slavin