Sexual exploitation case against James Franco reaches settlement deal

A class-action that alleged actor James Franco pressured female students at his now-defunct acting school to perform X-rated material has been dropped.

The sexual exploitation class action against James Franco has reached a settlement deal. Picture: Valerie Macon

A class-action lawsuit that alleged actor James Franco pressured female students at his now-defunct acting school to perform X-rated material in a master class on sex scenes has been dropped, with a settlement deal reached. The lawsuit was brought forward in 2019, one year after five women went public with allegations against the actor.

According to the joint status report, which was filed with the Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles on February 11, two former Studio 4 students, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, have agreed to dismiss sexual exploitation claims without prejudice. This means the case is dismissed temporarily, giving the Plaintiffs the option to re-open claims should they wish. It is not yet known what the settlement deal is worth.

James Franco in a scene from film 127 Hours

Tither-Kaplan, an actress from Arkansas, first alleged claims of sexual exploitation against Franco in early 2018. Franco had just won a Golden Globe for his performance in The Disaster Artist, a dark comedy based on the true story of failed actor Tommy Wiseau. Tither-Kaplan told the Los Angeles Times “there was a culture of exploiting non-celebrity women, and a culture of women being replaceable“ at Studio 4.

The actress told the LA Times that Franco removed protective plastic guards covering actresses‘ vaginas during a nude orgy scene, where oral sex was being simulated. According to other students present, Franco became angry when none of the students agreed to film the scene topless.

Franco has denied the allegations, with his attorney calling the claims “false and inflammatory, legally baseless and brought as a class action with the obvious goal of grabbing as much publicity as possible for attention-hungry Plaintiffs.“

The irony of his team‘s response was not lost on the public - Franco had been a vocal supporter of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, even wearing a Times Up pin on his suit lapel to the 2018 Golden Globes.

Tither-Kaplan said that seeing that felt like “a slap in [her] face.”

James Franco stars as gay rights activist Scott Smith in film 'Milk'.

In a 2018 interview with late show TV host Stephen Colbert shortly after the allegations aired, Franco said, “in my life I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I have done... 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 any way.”

Franco has maintained a low profile since then, but has still been involved in producing a number of film and TV projects.

The settlement deal will be submitted for preliminary court approval by March 15.