Two former students who sued in 2019, accusing actor and filmmaker James Franco of subjecting them to sexually exploitative auditions and filming at an acting and film school he founded, have agreed to withdraw their claims against him as part of a settlement reached earlier this month.
A joint status report filed Feb. 11 in the Superior Court in Los Angeles said the two women who filed the lawsuit, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, had agreed to withdraw their individual claims against Mr Franco. not known.
Details of the Feb. 11 filing were reported Saturday by The Associated Press. On Sunday, plaintiffs’ attorneys confirmed the settlement, which they say would be formalized at a later date. They have not provided further details.
Ms Tither-Kaplan and Ms Gaal said in a 2019 filing that Mr Franco had intimidated them into performing meaningless sex scenes, while denying them the protection of nudes when they were students in a sex scene masterclass at his school, Studio 4 , which operated from 2014 to 2017 and had offices in Los Angeles and New York.
According to the indictment, Mr. Franco wanted “to create a pipeline of young women subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education.” The two women said those who cooperated were led to believe that it would give them a role in Mr. Franco’s films.
Mr Franco’s attorneys did not respond to an email asking for comment on Sunday. Mr. Franco has previously denied the allegations.
Mr. Franco’s production company, Rabbit Bandini, and his partners, including Vince Jolivette and Jay Davis, are also cited as defendants. The two sides had been negotiating a settlement for several months, according to the filing, and the progress of the lawsuit was paused while they were doing so. Mr. Jolivette’s lawyers did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The claims of other plaintiffs in the class action filing will, according to the report, be denied unabated under the terms of the settlement, meaning they can be resubmitted at a later date.
Before filing the 2019 lawsuit, Ms. Tither-Kaplan and several other women had accused Mr. Franco of sexual misconduct in a Los Angeles Times story after winning a Golden Globe for his performance in “The Disaster Artist” in January 2018 Other women discussed their experiences with Mr. Franco in social media posts they shared during and after the broadcast, which took place during the #MeToo movement.
Mr. Franco continued to make public appearances in the days following the charges, explaining that he supported women’s right to report sexual misconduct, but said the specific claims made about him were inaccurate.
Mr. Franco denied the allegations in a performance on “The Late Show” but told the host, Stephen Colbert, “If there is a refund, I’ll make it. I’m here to listen and learn and my perspective. to change where it is off. “