James Franco, an Oscar nominee, has admitted to sleeping with students at an acting school he used to run, saying he battled with sex addiction and has worked to modify his conduct in recent years.
Franco, 43, admitted he “did sleep with pupils, and that was bad” while teaching, according to portions from The Jess Cagle Podcast made public on Wednesday. He claimed that he did not launch the school with the intention of luring ladies for sexual motives.
In the SiriusXM show, he added, “I believe at the time, my attitude was if it’s consensual, okay.” “I wasn’t thinking clearly at the moment.”
Franco’s statements were his first prolonged response to allegations filed against him nearly four years ago when the Los Angeles Times reported that five women had accused Franco of inappropriate behavior.
Two women later filed a civil claim against the “Pineapple Express” star in October 2019, accusing him of exploiting aspiring actors at his now-defunct acting school and duping young women into filming explicit sex scenes.
Franco claimed that he developed a sex addiction after overcoming an alcohol addiction that he had developed at an early age.
“It’s such a strong drug,” he explained. “I was addicted for another 20 years. The most pernicious aspect of this is that I was alcohol-free for the entire period.”
Franco co-hosted the Oscars in 2011 and was nominated for his performance in “127 Hours” in the 2012 ceremony.
According to documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court this year, the actor agreed to pay $2.2 million to resolve the civil action brought in 2019.
Franco also revealed in the podcast interview that he has been in treatment for sex addiction since 2016 and that following the claims against him; he “had been doing a lot of work” and “changing who I was.”
He explained, “I didn’t want to injure them.”
