James Franco Settles Sexual Assault Lawsuit Filed By Former Students
‘Pineapple Express’ and ‘127 Hours’ actor James Franco has settled his sexual assault lawsuit filed by two of his former students and actresses Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal. In 2019, the two students first filed their suit against Franco, claiming he’d forced his students into performing in increasingly explicit sex scenes on camera, in an “orgy type setting,” which goes far beyond those acceptable on film sets in Hollywood.
The suit further claimed that Franco “sought to create a pipeline of young women who were subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education,” adding that students were led to believe if they completed his exercises, they’d be offered roles in Franco’s films.
RELATED: James Franco Slams His #MeToo Accusers As Publicity Hungry
Previously, Franco’s attorneys praised the MeToo movement, but called 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.” Now, in a los Angeles Superior Court, the class-action suit has been settled, with the two students dropping their individual claims under the agreement, whose terms have not yet been made public.
RELATED: Alexander Wang Accused Of Sexual Assault By Multiple Models