James Franco accuser tells 'Good Morning America' she just wants him to apologize
Two of the five women accusing actor James Franco of sexual misconduct spoke to Good Morning America Tuesday about their experiences with him. Sarah Tither-Kaplan recalled specifics of Franco allegedly abusing his position of power as an instructor and blurring lines with sex scenes.
“A lot of the times they seemed gratuitous or exploitative,” she said.
Additionally, Violet Paley had a message for the Disaster Artist director: "Please just apologize," she said.
When the women first shared their stories with the Los Angeles Times, Tither-Kaplan noted that Franco had reached out to her in October to apologize for making her uncomfortable with the aforementioned nude scenes.
“James is absolutely not a Harvey Weinstein, he is not an unfeeling monster who has no sense of reality,” she told GMA. “He created exploitative environments for non-celebrity women on his sets. I also think James is a very talented and valuable person. It’s a pyramid, and at the top is rape and sexual violence and at the bottom are the other abuses of power…that continue to build and build and build and create a culture that allows the most heinous examples of sexual violence and misogyny and discrimination to happen. So if we allow any of them, we’re allowing all of them.”
To that end, she clarified the power imbalance between Franco, an established actor, and his students in a classroom environment or on a film set.
“James abused his power by exploiting the non-celebrity women that he worked with under the guise of giving them opportunities,” Tither-Kaplan told GMA. “Being an actor and a filmmaker and working in the industry has been my dream since I was like maybe five or six and I knew that by coming forward I was risking my career.”
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“I’m regretful, I was young, he was a celebrity I looked up to,” Paley said.
Franco himself responded to the allegations in late night appearances. Though he denies the extent of his accusers' allegations, he said that he does not wish to silence any victims (his sister-in-law Alison Brie said the same).
Topics Celebrities
Proma Khosla is a Senior Entertainment Reporter writing about all things TV, from ranking Bridgerton crushes to composer interviews and leading Mashable's stateside coverage of Bollywood and South Asian representation. You might also catch her hosting video explainers or on Mashable's TikTok and Reels, or tweeting silly thoughts from @promawhatup.
