Prosecutors’ attorneys in the case against James Franco have announced they have reached a preliminary settlement over allegations that the actor harassed students of his acting and film school in sexual situations.
The two parties filed a joint status report with the Los Angeles Superior Court in which they declared to a judge that a settlement had been reached in the class action lawsuit filed by former students of the Franco-founded Studio 4, which was closed in 2017. lifted. however live on.
The document was filed Feb. 11, but the settlement has not been previously reported.
Actresses and ex-students Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, who first filed the lawsuit in 2019, have agreed to drop their individual claims under the agreement, the court said. Their lawsuit said Franco was pushing his students to perform in increasingly explicit on-camera sex scenes in an “orgy-like setting” that went far beyond what is acceptable on Hollywood movie sets.
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It claimed that Franco was “trying to create a pipeline of young women subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education,” and that students were led to believe that roles in Franco’s films would be available to those who came along.
James Franco arranged a lawsuit against him for alleged misconduct at his drama school.
(REUTERS / Mike Blake)
The lawsuit said the incidents took place in a sex scene masterclass Franco taught at Studio 4, which opened in 2014.
The two sides had been in talks about a settlement for several months, and the trial’s progress was paused while they were talking.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys at the firm of Valli Kane & Vagnini, LLP, confirmed the agreement in a statement to The Associated Press on Saturday night, adding that it “ will be further commemorated in a joint settlement provision to be brought before the court. to be submitted at a later date, “but without further comments or details.
Representatives for Franco did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
In a previous lawsuit, Franco’s lawyers, while helping the #MeToo movement that helped inspire the lawsuit, cited her claims as “ false and inflammatory, legally unfounded, and as a class action with the clear goal of getting as much publicity as possible for attention -hungry claimants. They pointed out that Tither-Kaplan had previously expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to work with Franco.
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The lawsuit also names Franco’s production company Rabbit Bandini and its partners, including Vince Jolivette and Jay Davis, as defendants.
The allegations of sexual exploitation of other plaintiffs in the class action will be dismissed without prejudice, meaning they can be resubmitted, the joint status report said.
Allegations of fraud brought by those plaintiffs will be “subject to limited release,” the document says, without further details or explanation.
Actor James Franco settled his sexual misconduct lawsuit at his drama school.
(Reuters)
The document does not reveal how much money may be involved in the deal.
Before filing suit, Tither-Kaplan made her allegations of sexual misconduct against Franco and other women in the Los Angeles Times after Franco won a Golden Globe Award for ‘The Disaster Artist’ in early 2018, when the wave of the # MeToo movement flew through Hollywood.
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In a subsequent interview on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Franco called the sexual misconduct stories about him inaccurate, but said, “If I’ve done something wrong, I’ll fix it. I have to.”
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Franco, 42, best known for starring in comedies with Seth Rogen, has generally remained unremarkable since the allegations emerged in a highly productive period culminating in the critically acclaimed ‘Disaster Artist’.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.