We’ve already talked about James Franco’s sketchy behavior where he allegedly tried to pick up a 17-year-old Scottish girl (named Lucy) on Instagram. James was looking to score some quick tail during his NYC downtime, and Lucy was in town with her mother. Screencaps of the conversation surfaced on the internet. James did nothing wrong in the eyes of the law, but his antics made him look like a creep.
Some people questioned whether James cooked this whole stunt up for publicity or as an “artistic” statement. James is promoting a movie called Palo Alto. He wrote the book that the film is based upon. He also stars in the movie as a soccer coach who seduces a 14-year-old girl. The film’s trailer was released last week (how convenient). Gawker lists several reasons in support of a hoax theory. They point out that James has been bragging about all of his new Instagram followers. They also delve into theories about the time-zone setting of Lucy’s iPad and whether Lucy is in fact a real person.
I don’t think this is a publicity stunt. Even if it is, James looks just as creepy for setting up this scenario than if he was simply a 36-year-old dude perving on a teenager. James hit up LIVE with Kelly & Michael on Friday morning to “apologize” for his behavior:
“I’m feeling awkward. I didn’t want to just come on the show and … feel awkward. So [laughter from audience] I guess, I mean … I’m embarrassed. I guess I’m just a model about how social media is tricky. It’s a way people meet each other today, but what I’ve learned — just because I’m new to it — is you don’t know who’s on the other end. You meet somebody in person and you get a feel them, but you don’t know who you’re talking to.
“So I used bad judgment and I learned my lesson. Unfortunately in my position … I have a very good life, but not only do I have to go through the embarrassing rituals of meeting someone. Sometimes if I do that, then it gets published for the world so it’s doubly embarrassing.”
[From LIVE with Kelly & Michael]
James made his little confession and tried to look sheepish. Kelly Ripa responded, “The way you came out here and handled it is perfectly acceptable. It happens to everybody, and I think it happens to movie stars on a much grander scale.” No, this doesn’t happen to everyone. Not every adult hits on teenagers on the internet. James asked how old this girl was, and she told him. He was perfectly aware that he was trying to hook up with a 17-year-old girl. Kelly is the host and tried to make her guest comfortable, but I think she went too far to gloss over what happened.
As for James claming to be “new” to social media, that’s a lie too. He stirred up trouble on Twitter in 2011. He even tweeted while hosting the Oscars that year. Maybe James thinks we’re dumb compared to him and that we’d forgotten about his previous douchiness. Wrong.
The Mail has published a scathing letter from Lucy’s grandmother, who says James “ought to get a slap on the wrist” for perving on her granddaughter.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN
His comment is so embarrassing that I don’t think this was an act anymore. I can’t believe he did that. I don’t like him very much, but that is disgusting, even for him. He’s 36 years old!
He’s a man….this is what they do constantly. The look for tail and that’s all there is to it. I’m a woman and I don’t like it but it’s the truth.
Oh, I’m sorry. Is the rich, good looking Hollywood actor so hard up for women that he’s got to sleep with girls?
It’s not that it’s illegal or that it should be illegal to sleep with 17 year olds. But it is damn creepy. It makes it look like the only thing keeping him from a 16 year old or a ‘mature’ 15 year old is the law.
Frankly, if he’s going to be a creep about it, he should have paid a few bucks for a hooker. An adult hooker. And don’t say he doesn’t have hook ups… you know they all do.
Dizzy: way to go for generalizing how ‘men’ act. I’m going to guess that you’ve been burned by some guys and you’re one of those women that complains about men on Facebook, but then when you finally get a boyfriend you start talking about how he’s perfect and blah blah blah. Yeah I’m probably way off, but it’s no different than you generalizing how all ‘men’ are and quite frankly your comment ticked me off. Let me just say that James Franco is no man, and not all guys act like him. He was pervy, and maybe this will make him think a little more and be less full of himself.
Dizzy: That’s a load of bull. Have you ever known any actual men?
Aside from the shade, I do agree with dizzy to a point. I agree that men want it more, they want it more often, and they are far less picky about where they get it. I don’t think, when they’re with the right partner, that they will lie and cheat though.
“It’s not that it’s illegal or that it should be illegal to sleep with 17 year olds. But it is damn creepy. It makes it look like the only thing keeping him from a 16 year old or a ‘mature’ 15 year old is the law.”
I’m curious … was Lucy in NYC as well or the British Isles? I’m not making excuses because I ‘do’ feel some guys have the sad urge to go younger and younger as they age, but the age of consent in Europe differs greatly from the United States. I’m pretty sure in Scotland the age of consent for girls is 16. So Lucy probably didn’t think she was being ‘perv-ed’ on at all.
If you want to loose all faith in humanity just read the comments in this E Online article. Looks like a bunch of these ‘mens rights’ tools are trolling around actually celebrating this d-ckwad Franco.
http://www.eonline.com/news/528026/james-franco-tried-to-pick-up-a-teenage-girl-on-instagram-what-the-actor-has-to-say-about-it-now
He’s just sorry he got caught.
Yup.
And publicly caught. Dude was seriously trying to hook up with her and her age never once tripped him up.
Exactly…he got caught. This just shows he has a thing for much younger girls…creepy. If she was 18 would this have even been a story? Probably not but the fact would remain that he would openly pursue a teenager when he is closer to 40 than 30. I’m his age and can’t even look at a pic of justin b. grabbing his crotch without feeling like a pedi. Crunch the numbers correctly and he is old enough to be her dad.
He isnt sorry. He is glad. This is an “art piece” and you are being trolled. I’ll remind y’all about this in a few weeks when he finally discloses that this was all some art experiment. He’ll probably do a mural comprised of all the articles and comments about this. Why am I having to tell you guys this? Do you not know James Franco?
Nah. He was attracted to the movie because it’s a cause close to home, sleeping with teenagers. It’s creepy.
Unless he condemns the people who attempt to sleep with teenagers and condemns the people who excused his act, the trolling would be creepy too.
I think he set this one up, but I also think it’s something he wouldn’t walk away from if the opp presented itself.
Somebody’s drunk the poseur-flavored Koolaid for sure.
absolutely a ploy for attention. This is textbook Franco.
Right. It’s social media’s fault for being so tricksy. It’s the girl’s fault for being, what? Dissembling somehow? A wrong un somehow? Ack. What a wankpot.
Wankpot is such a perfect insult for this, I’m going to commit it to memory. Thanks!
Spot on. It was also the girls fault for being drop dead gorgeous. How could he even help himself?!?
Poor thing.
Poor poor thing.
Poor poor poor wankpot.
If you knew the amount of “it’s the girl’s fault, leave him alone” comments I’ve read…sickening.
to add too that!!!
@ ladyslippers!! Neo!! Thanks for keeping up the good fight!!
And @ Lucy. More than it’s a 17 year old girl’s fault… I add the “You’re such a stupid b*tch!! Why didn’t you sleep with him and shut your tiny mouth!?” group into your mix!! Women (mostly over 25) uniting to promoting sleeping with a 36 year old man if you are under 20!! And furthermore shaming a 17 year old for rejecting the obvious/aggressive advances of a 36 year old!!!
celebrity!!
What a culture!! Wow!!
Predators… especially when they are funny, good-looking, famous and rich… can easily sit back, have a beer and sit by the pool, while women fight about it too the ends of the world. Beyond oblivion… into Malaysian plane territory!!!
What a culture!! What wonder the Good looking celebrity culture gives too the population!!
Wow!!
Exactly! I was so appalled when I went on fb and one of my male friends posted a link to an article about this with a status along the lines of “look at how this stupid girl disclosed a private conversation, btw she is legal”. But this friend is a total weirdo and I would never leave him alone with any of my kids – male or female – but it pissed me off SO much! How is it a teenagers fault for being perves on? And she should disclose what a creeper he is. Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right.
@Lucy-I’m with you on this. There are a few comments on this post that I’m having problems with. How is this the fault of the girl? She was very honest “I’m with my mom, my birthday is in a few weeks”, etc. She also did NOT say she wanted to hook up with him that I saw. He was sounding more like a desperate loser than a movie star who could have a ton of willing girls. It seemed to me he was getting off on the…seediness (?) of the situation. Just weird. I hope Seth dumps him.
I’m stepping in here. Are we talking about Franco of the loonies who troll social media? Is he responsible for how they react?
This is why i’m not on social media. You open yourelf up to abuse. And yea. It shows the worst side of humanity. That existed long before Franco.
I think this was such a ploy and it worked. for better or worse his name is being talked about and interest is being raised about the situation of the film/book.
He’s just better at shit like this than Shia. I think he’s a pretentious asshole who thinks he’s better than everybody else.
The lesson he learned was not to proposition underage girls in a way that can leave a paper-trail, not to proposition seventeen year old girls. A-hole.
I’ll bet someone (the press) will set him up with a 16 year old. This is ripe for an ‘opportunity’ like that.
@ Ladslippers!!
Let me tell you a little story… I saw him, at NYU (long story) it is definitely not the first 18 year old girl he has gone for… TRUST ME!!
@T.Fanty… Exactly!! You get it!! What a brazen ass-wipe, right?!
The chickens have come home to roost. So, finally we know what is up with this multi-talented man… Selling us bull about how wonderful and above-human he is!!
Having said that, I’m proud of him for admitting his indiscretions, and I think it’s a more nobler act than denial, especially a man in his position to doctor the truth without hassle. I’m proud of his admittance, and I will give him respect for that!!
And the papertrail gets attention.
Honestly i’m a bit shocked and the disregarding of logic and proven track record of stunts for the boundless hate. There is no balanced argument here. Just people wanting to burn the witch.
LS
We usually think alike too.
We, as viewers and people whom ultimately gave celebrities the bread on their table, should ACTIVELY start to sabotage the work of those who are certified criminals or at least disgusting people. I mean, certified woman beaters like Sean Penn, Josh Brolin and Sean Bean have to have the same treatment as Chris Brown, I don’t understand how these d-bags still have a career and still are respected and make money. And it goes on with child molesters and any other type of disgusting types like Franco. ahrgg…
People always overlook the hideousness of certain celebs because of their “brilliant work”. Sad, but true.
this reminds me of Stephen Fry’s thoughts on Wagner, on Craig Ferguson, and how difficult it is to reconcile the work with the creator.
http://timpanista.tumblr.com/post/51171284116/stephen-fry-and-craig-ferguson-talk-wagner-from
however, in the case of Franco, i’ve never come across anything he had made that i like. so… not difficult to cast aspersions on him. ditto Woody. i find his films okay but not groundbreakingly or soulchangingly brilliant as have been advertised. and so i don’t have any fondness for him either.
Its hard to believe that vanessa paradis is quoted as saying woody allen is brilliant. During the hey day of “no rules” 1970’s, sleeper and annie hall were relevant. But after the demise of the hedonistic 70’s, woody allen’s themes became glaringly apparent; narcissistic misyogynistic fantasies couples with the “no one understands me” egocentrics of an adult stuck in an adolescent body. So these misunderstood genius types need tone boycotted, mainly because their work might have been relevant one time, but the lasting impression is offensive.
Please add Charlie Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and Mel Gibson to your domestic abusers list.
And agreed. Men that abuse others (whether it be emotional, sexual, physical or otherwise) should not be rewarded for their work. We, as a society, cannot condone that behaviour. Period/Full Stop.
Mel Gibson has no career left or the respect of anyone. He is treated like a pariah in Hollywood, unlike Brolin, Penn, Bean etc.
Let’s just put the brakes on for a second. James Franco hasn’t done anything to be grouped with Mel Gibson,Charlie Sheen or Woody Allen. Let’s not go overboard here. At best/worst he was being creepy and showed really bad judgment. The men you’re talking about have been accused of some serious things.
I see what you mean, but I take it very seriously when a 36 year old man tries to sleep with a 17 year old girl. Legal or not, I find that behavior sick and disgusting.
No, Franco isn’t *that* bad in comparison — but the key point is — that we know of. Apparently there ARE reports of some very questionable behaviour that might land him in that ‘awful list’ of men.
So no, he’s not there but he now qualifies as someone who’s worth steering clear of.
FingerBinger
What you’re missing here is Franco is 100% assumed to have done this for real and not as a publicity stunt that backfired a all.
To the eyes of many he is a sick pedophile and that is that. Burn the Witch!
True. He is Gross, but not on a Woody Allen or Mel Gibson level. Yet anyway.
He’s more than twice her age! We all knew that Franco was a douche, we all knew he was a creep. We all knew that he was an utter moron who likes to pretend that he is brilliant. But, this is just him taking that abysmally low standards that everyone sets for him, and thinking ‘I can go even lower.’
Yep. And to turn it around, I’m a 30yr old woman and I’d be disgusted with myself if I went after a 17 year old boy, especially in that way. The gap in maturity and experience would make it very creepy, (not to mention the fact the way his one intention was to bait her for sex, to use her and discard her no doubt, EW!).
So basically it’s everyone’s and everything’s fault except for him. He is the victim because he just has no idea how social media works and she took advantage of him even though she told him from the jump she was 17. Also, he had no idea who he was talking to even though she had a video up were he asked her to tag him on twitter. Even went out of his way to post a pic of himself, with her name on a piece of paper, in all caps in order to prove he was in fact James Franco, but he had no idea he was talking to a 17 year old girl named Lucy.
Sure Franco. You poor, abused, darling. How dare that meddling vixen expose you as the perverted, creepy, predatory, sick, piece of crap that you are. The nerve of him sitting up there with that “aw shucks/ my bad/ I did an oopsy” facial expression.
Also, Kelly can have a stadium full of seats with that “we’ve all been there” nonsense. I don’t know what she does on the internet but most of us aren’t cruising for jail bait online, so don’t try to paint this as some kind of universal mistake.
Great comment. I could slap both of them. “We’ve all been there?” Um, no, Kelly, no Franco, we have not all tried to take advantage of a child you couple of douchebags.
Don’t you know that in today’s world…nothing is anyone’s fault…it’s always the other guy’s fault or society’s fault, or the parent’s fault, or the “I didn’t think that was wrong” excuse, etc., etc., People don’t take any responsibility for their actions…
Right. I’m so sorry if you were offended by my perfectly innocent and well-meaning behavior/remark, but it was not my fault. The era of the non-apology.
Dollar bet Kelly is going to have to walk back that “we’ve all been there” statement within the next few days when phone calls and emails of complaints to the show begin to pile up. It’s a definite if the show loses a sponsor as a result.
I’m sure Kelly would be forgiving if some 36 year old douche, was talking to her daughter online…
Agree with all of your comments. I would like to see Kelly Ripa called out for this as well. A troubling aspect was all of the comments I read from young women/girls who were annoyed that this girl would post this info instead of sleeping with him. What a culture we have.
I’m new to social media. What’s the shelf life on that statement? I’m new to getting caught being a douche with a girl young enough to be my daughter. Why not just drive around in a van marked “free candy.”
Welp. I don’t know how i can defend him anymore after this. TheOriginalKitten, where are you?!
Yeah..no. It’s over for me too.
I’m 35 and I usually date guys younger than me–younger as in mid-to-late twenties, not younger as in SEVEN-F*CKING-TEEN. I have no idea what possible commonality he could have with a teenager, beyond the fact that he acts like one himself.
Gross.
There were blinds about an “artist” a while ago demanding young hookers at Cannes. Everyone guess Leo…….but the word artist made me guess Franco. Lainey also had a blind a while back about a guy who would only have sex in Hotel rooms and would not take his clothes off. But would have sex thru his underwear hole. She used the word artist a couple of times too so I figured Franco there too.
@Lori…Ohhhh, yes. You don”t just shop at the Smarty Pants Store, you own stock. Those are some good deductive skills. I’m with you on this.
He’s disgusting and creepy–and probably one of those guys who dates young women (18-19) for that very reason (innocence, naive-ty, etc).
My mom ran into a guy like this when she was in the Navy. He was in his early fifties (and looked it), and she was nearly thirty (like 28 or 29). She was still in the Navy, and some weekends she would go out for a drink–near Georgetown. And she met this guy–he was really nice and sweet to her. They would hang out, and she said they kissed a little bit, but were mainly taking it slow and were being more friendly, than dating.
Well one day, they were talking about something, and he mentioned something that happened a particular year– and she said something along the lines of that was the year she graduated high school. And he looked at her funny, and asked her how old she was, and when she told him–he started acting all weird. Because my mom was really babyfaced (like even if you look at her now, a lot of people think that she’s in her early thirties, even though she’s fifty), and so she looked like she was 21, 22 at most.
But yeah–the guy thought that he was flirting around with someone who was barely legal enough to drink, and after he found out that she was closer to thirty, then he didn’t want to see her any more.
*********
So then she told me that me being 19, that 25 year olds shouldn’t even be talking to me (as in flirting,etc), because there are plenty of other women their own age that they can date–that pretty much if they want to date me, it’s basically so that they can have someone to boss around. I just stood there and laughed a little on the inside because my mom is like THE ultimate cougar—when she married my dad, she was 34 and he was 21, and had three kids…..so I laugh when she talks trash about age differences.
Your mom is a badass.
And for those who don’t see the difference between bedding a 17 year old and marrying a 21 year old… sigh.
LOL that dude your mom knew in the Navy sounds like a real f*cking prize! What a pig!!
I have never understood his appeal. There have been murmurings re his inappropriate behavior towards young women at least since his days “teaching” at NYU. He seems to have great confidence in himself which is fine yet I feel as if he has been touted as this HUGE talent who is uber talented in every arena. Has anyone seen that in execution? I don’t find him attractive but there seem to be many who do and I believe that is where his hype begins and ends. I seem to recall reading somewhere that he is the modern Orson Welles (sp?) but Orson actually lived up to much of the hype. Franco just comes across as self serving and sleazy.
Why doesn’t he date women more than one night stands? Why doesn’t he ever have girlfriends longer than a few days? Why did he want to have sex with a 17 year old? Why doesn’t anyone who has actually worked with him and knows him stand up for him as a decent human being? He’s perverted and gross, is the answer to all of the above.
I was starting to like him after his Bound 2 spoof with Seth Rogen. I should have known he’d end up doing something douche-like again.
go away, James Franco, go away.
I’m just totally shocked that a guy who wrote a book about and starred in the movie as a creepy soccer coach having an inappropriate relationship with a young girl, might in real life actually be a creepy guy who likes to hook up with young girls. Shocked.
I know! And all the casting that he must have done-it probably turned his stomach having to pretend to like all those young girls. Poor guy.
That’s what I was thinking. He wrote the book the movie is based on. Write what you know.
Publicity stunt?
He planned it as a publicity stunt but was hoping for getting a piece of pie also.
I don’t think this can be considered an apology. He missed the point of why this was wrong. Trying to pick up a teenage girl is the issue, James, not that is was caught via social media.
Exactly. He basically just said he used bad judgment by getting caught.
I don’t see it as an apology, just embarrassment that he was *caught*.
He needs more than a slap on the wrist…he needs to be paraded through town, tarred and feathered, thrown into stocks and get 40 lashes across his bottom. Ewwwww. just ewwwww.
I kinda still think it’s a publicity stunt.
I do as well. The fact that he brought it up unprompted on Kelly & Michael – and that Kelly just played it off like it was no biggie – screams publicity stunt to me. I’m not saying that Kelly Ripa isn’t capable of being vapid or mindless, but she is a mother (not to mention a woman). I have a hard time believing that she would just brush off something like this (if only to avoid looking bad). It all just seems too coincidental. And I think the way people are reacting (which is completely normal and understandable) is playing out exactly the way he hoped…
I think it’s a hoax because that Twitter account looks fake. However, while I think she’s a hoax, hard to say if he’s in on it or not.
Gee, if it’s a publicity stunt – how sad that anyone would consider this and the publicity that comes with it as anything but strongly undesirable. It’s troubling and off-putting to me, that’s all. He looks like a dangerous creep.
His apology completely misses the point.
I think more than just the fact that he hit on a 17 year old, the manner in which he hit on a 17 year old (the texts seem to convey he just views her as a one night piece of meat, not a human who deserves respect) makes it doubly not ok.
agreed!!!
Why are we lying???
She was perfect for him…..
In the book of “Terry Richardson-ness” (Btw, they are friends in real life)
she was the perfect candidate.
Young, unassuming, star-struck!!! Unknown *so that he can deny the rumours when she grows up, gets smart about herself and realizes what he did was not right and tells the world*
Is in NYC for a short time and then returns to little old suburb in Scotland!!!
She will hang on every word he says…
The perfect candidate!!
Eh, though. I’m 22 now but when I as 15, I pursued and was pursued by men 26+. The oldest one was 38. I get it, I was skinny, beautiful-faced and youthful, but also smart enough, and interesting. I can understand why they fell for me. I question their attraction to my pubescent body, but oh well. Men can be dumb and I sure as shit flirted with them. I’ve been alcoholically legal for 4 years and I still get carded and and people sometimes refuse to hit on me because “you look 15 years old.”
This “apology” though doesn’t make me think that he fell into a trap of a sexy youthful woman, Guy’s just trying to play it off goofy. So fuck you Franco. You’re a grown-ass man, you’re supposed to say no.
I like your confidence, Shijel. And yes, fuck him.
This. Did he ask her if she would like dinner reservations? No, he asked her if he should rent a hotel room. And basically the only personal question he cared about was her age, so yeah, he was going through “the embarrassing ritual of meeting someone”….for sex.
Yep. He asked her age but wasn’t concerned with her answer. He also asked whether or not she had a boyfriend and if he should get a room. Age and relationship status had no bearing on the important question — should he get a room. In fact, the urgency in which he asked the question created an image of a guy that was undressing to m@sterb@te OR getting on his running shoes to run out the door to undress in previously mentioned hotel room.
this this this
oh dear, that’s it, nailed. in all it’s ugly detail. eww.
Franco’s sorry he got caught. His manager, agent, or who ever told him those tweets put him in the Woody Allen/Roman Polanski club. Damage control is in full swing.
He and I are basically the same age. If I was talking to someone who said they were 25, I’d be like, uh…you’re too young. SEVENTEEN?!?! He’s so gross, and I totally agree he’s only embarrassed he got caught.
I almost wonder if he wanted to get caught, got some thrill out of it. He’s been in the public eye for a LONG time, and certainly knows how things work. Either his ego is so big he thought he was untouchable, or maybe part of him enjoyed the riskiness and attention of it.
It’s interesting how different the media reports this on each side of the Atlantic. You seem to focus on her being 17. My friends and I all had older boyfriends/ booty calls from being 16.
Ummm. I don’t think it’s strange.
I’m sure most of us have dated or slept with older men when we were in our late teens but not with men almost knocking on 40 (almost 36 is certainly knocking on 40).
The ‘older men’ I dated and/or slept with were usually in their 20’s. Some still might object but many have done it themselves so it’s more understandable and relatable. Big difference with a man in his 20’s vs a man in his mid-to-late 30’s in my opinion.
Ha this is random, but when I was 24 I slept with a 38 year old guy. Totally hot, and not creepy, and really nice…looked 30. And then his 36 year old friend wanted in on it…that friend was creepier than a 50 year old. Point is, there are some nice older guys who still look and act in their 20s, and some older guys who act nasty and like a 60 yo creep.
Yep, when I was 16-18 I dated a couple of guys who were 4-5 yrs. older. They were nice, respectful guys though, who I met through mutual friends and dated, and didn’t sleep with btw, not pushing 40 yr olds scamming for sex. There is a difference, and this ludicrous attitude he has of trying to portray himself as some sort of victim is frankly horrific.
I am disgusted with Kelly Ripa for letting him off so easy. He is no different from those shady trawlers who proposition you unsolicited online.
I feel so sorry for young girls having to deal with this way of “dating”, I don’t know what the h*ll is going on in society. Like half of women under 25 on twitter are just little wannabe glamour models in their underwear, it’s depressing as f**k. I just don’t get it, they are part of the problem sure but somewhere along the line a very bizarre message has become the norm – get your clothes off to get attention, you have no worth otherwise. Like, where are their mothers?! I am so grateful to have come of age when I did compared to now.
I am sure if Franco and other celebs are smarter about it they can pull this kind of thing off no problem, I am inclined to believe the blinds re: the young prostitutes and the NYU stories based on this little stunt. He clearly lacks the social skills to deal with a woman his own age. I am glad he was exposed for the cretin he is, it’s pretty sickening he hasn’t had to own up to it in any real way though.
I can no longer defend your douche tactics, Professor F. You hit a level of douchery that makes me remove you from my HW fave douches’ list. :/
ya know… (off topic)… He used to be SO freakin sexy and alluring to me in all ways, long ago. What the HELL is up w/ his sallow ick complexion!?? im not kidding. He looks so ill and clammy all the time. i used to think it was bad makeup but now i know otherwise. Being a pothead doesnt cause that … So what will fix it? Green-leafies? SOMEONE PLEASE LET HIM KNOW. Geezus.
There is no apology there. He’s sorry he got caught, and he’s blaming her for being courageous enough to talk about what a skeeze he is. I am not at all surprised, as he has always been a disgusting waste of oxygen.
It was pretty skeevy. I hope he did learn a lesson, but the wording of his apology makes me doubt his ownership of accountability and sincerity.
Does he have liver problems? His skin and eyes always look a little off to me, or is he normally that yellow?
and another thing …. in what universe is a teenager discreet about ANYthing?
Nope. She was technically legal and so he gets a pass from me on this one. There’s a LOT of much shittier stuff that goes on in Hollywood.
Anyway, I want to focus my ire on the “genius” that is Woody Allen and make his life uncomfortable (living hell).
Aside the general creepiness of Franco perving on a 17 year old, I found it more disturbing how he seemed to turn on the kid when asked for proof. His texts go from aggressive pursuit to coldness, including that pic where he’s flipping her off. Franco is deep in Terry Richardsland to me.
Definitely, db. The whole thing was gross with the age difference, but he also seemed pushy and shifty in the texts to boot.
He did this to a friend of mine at NYU, and when she didn’t know how to respond/was clearly uncomfortable, just sent her “WTF???”
I vividly recall being hit on as a teenager by adult men on more than one occasion. Including while attending a concert for a popular band of the time whose audience was made up of mostly teenage girls. The roadie let me and my friend over to the side of the stage to touch our favorite band members guitars and watch them come onstage. It was all very exciting until I looked over to see my mother (and our chaperone) with the “mom look” and waving us over after the band came on. Thank goodness I had her there to protect us and thank goodness this girl has her mother and grandmother to protect her. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the excitement of the moment especially when it’s someone famous. And it is very creepy to hit on someone that much younger than you IMO even if it is legal. Just one more move he’s made that lands him in “DB” territory for sure! Even if this is all a set up it’s still pretty gross.
All the time!
I agree. I think if most women look back to thier teen years many adult men did this crap.
The funniest part is how he came out of all this looking ridiculously STUPID. I mean that conversation and his entire behavior with this girl is on the level of a low IQ middle-aged creep who wanks off in the park alone at night.
Whilst Franco tries to build up this reputation of an intelligent artistic creature. Major LOL. I mean, major, MAJOR evil laughter.
Further proof anyone with enough cash can get a respectable uni degree, it ain’t really about your smarts.
…isn’t there a 16 year old getting married off to someone in their 30s or 40s somewhere in the world?! I think we need to be more outraged at THAT.
There is a blind on CDAN about a abusive actor. It was revealed to be James Franco. Most of the blinds on CDAN tend to be bs, but after hearing about this deal with a teenager and other stories about JF I have to wonder. Where there is smoke…..
He won’t be the first or last in Hollywood to try to take advantage of a teenager. Sleazy git that he is. Can’t stand him at all. In every image I see of him, he resembles a junkie.
non-apology apology.
she wasn’t legal in some states. AZ, CA, DE, FL, ID, ND, OR, TN, UT, VA, WI are all 18 = age of consent.
hoax or not, it shows extremely poor judgement.
if your movie is so good, why would you need to drum up extra publicity? why numb people to horror of internet predators with this nonsense of crying wolf?
any man that needs a woman young enough to be his daughter (same goes for women) is one damaged special snowflake.
he’s AWFUL.
He wrote a sorry about a soccer coach raping — oh, sorry, ‘seducing — a 14-year-old girl, and is now starring in the movie based on his story. He is a Grade A creeper, just as bad as Woody Allen or anyone of that ilk, he’s just so much ‘cooler’ and ‘hipper,’ so it’s okay.
Anyone really think this is the first young girl he’s done this with/
Franco is 35 and he hit on a 17 year old.
Joaquin Phoenix is 39 and he dates a 19 year old.
Which is grosser?
At least JP is dating his youngun, and at least she’s able to vote, have a full driver’s license, sign a contract, and buy cigarettes.
Franco just wanted to bang some kid.
I’ve always wondered why he enrolled at Yale, UCLA., Columbia, NYU Tisch School, RISD, etc., etc. Now I know. It’s the co-eds. Wasn’t he also supposed to have slept through some of the classes?
This is just disturbing. Not as disturbing as the green mile guy and Courtney stodden, but still creepy. My daughter is five and I can already feel I’m going to be a total over controlling mom to make sure this never happens to her. He should be so ashamed of himself, yet he isn’t. God bless this girl and keep her strong from the trolls.