Charlyne Yi says she tried to break her contract and quit filming Disaster Artist when she heard of the allegations against co-star and director James FrancoRather than listening to her concerns, she said producers of the 2017 film were trying to bribe her into a bigger acting role.
Yi made these allegations into one Instagram post on Friday, involving Seth Rogen, a producer on the film, in the plan to bribe her as well.
“I cried and told them… I didn’t feel safe working with a damn sexual predator,” Yi wrote. They minimized and said that Franco was a predator so last was [year] and that he changed … when I literally heard that he was abusing new women that week. ”
Rogen, Yi said in the accompanying caption, “know for sure about the bribe and why I quit.”
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Most of the allegations against Franco came out in early 2018, then five women accused him of sexual misconduct for incidents that happened at his place now-defunct drama school
But even before Yi shot Disaster Artist with Franco, there had long been whispers about the actor’s history of inappropriate sexual behavior, as a result of an incident in 2014 in which Franco sent a 17-year-old message to ask her to meet him in his hotel room. Franco later admitted that he hit the teenager and accused of “bad judgmentIn a television interview, “In my position, not only do I have to go through the embarrassing rituals to meet someone, but sometimes it gets published to the world,” Franco said at the time.
A few weeks later, Rogen had one SNL sketch that ridicules Franco for what he considered an “embarrassing” mistake, rather than something predatory. “I decided to make fun of James Franco,” Rogen said on the show. “I posed as a girl on Instagram and told him I was very young. He seemed unfazed. I have an appointment with him at the Ace Hotel. “
Yi said she chose to share her experience now because April is sexual violence awareness month; subsequent posts to her Instagram feed deal with consent, trauma and gaslighting, scrutinizing Rogen for being an “enabler” of sexual harassment and abuse.
“Predators will show empathy, gaslight and say they will do better – all to protect themselves and keep harming others,” Yi wrote. “Enablers are just as toxic and abusive too.”