Stephen Colbert questions James Franco over sexual misconduct accusations

James Franco was pressed for answers by Stephen Colbert on The Late Show on Tuesday, following accusations of sexual misconduct since his Golden Globe win.

The Disaster Artist star was interviewed by the talk show host, broadcast mere hours after The New York Times cancelled a TimesTalks event with Franco scheduled for Wednesday.

A public supporter of the Time's Up movement against systemic sexual abuse in Hollywood and other industries, Franco wore one of the widely publicized pins to the Globes on Sunday. But during and after the ceremony, in which Franco won a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his role in The Disaster Artist, several women posted accusations of sexual misconduct on Twitter.

Tweets included those of The Breakfast Club actor Ally Sheedy, who Franco directed in a 2014 off-Broadway play. She wrote in now-deleted tweets, "James Franco just won. Please never ever ask me why I left the film/tv business," then posted #MeToo at the end of another tweet.

Actress Violet Paley claimed that Franco had tried to force her to perform oral sex, tweeting that, "A couple weeks ago, James offered me & a few other girls an overdue, annoyed, convenient phone “apology”. I don’t accept."

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Colbert asked Franco about these accusations of sexual misconduct on the Late Show.

"First, I want to say I do support it," said Franco, speaking of the Time's Up and #MeToo movements. "Look, I was so excited to win but being in that room that night was incredible. It was powerful, and there were incredible voices and I support it, I support change."

"There were some things on Twitter, I haven’t read them. I’ve heard about them," he said, turning his attention to the accusations against him. "OK, first of all, I have no idea what I did to Ally Sheedy. I directed her in a play off-Broadway. I had nothing but a great time with her. Total respect for her. I have no idea why she was upset. She took the tweet down, I don't know, I can’t speak for her.

"The others, look, in my life I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I’ve done. I have to to that to maintain my wellbeing. I do it whenever I know that there is something wrong or needs to be changed. I make it a point to do it."

"The things that I heard that were on Twitter are not accurate, but I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice, because they didn’t have a voice for so long. So, I don’t want to shut them down in anyway. It's, I think, a good thing and I support it."

Colbert asked Franco whether there was some way to have the discussion that wasn't held on social media, and whether there could be some kind of reconciliation for two people who have different views of a situation. “If there’s restitution to be made, I will make it," said Franco.

"So, if I’ve done something wrong, I will fix it. I have to. I mean, I think that's how that works. I don’t know what else to do.

"As far as the bigger issues, you know, how we do it, look, I really don’t have the answers and I think the point of this whole thing is that we listen. There were incredible people talking that night — they had a lot to say. I’m here to listen and learn and change my perspective where it’s off. I’m completely willing and want to."