Recently, The Los Angeles Times published an article in which five women described examples of inappropriate behavior from James Franco. For example, there was a case of a student at his film school who was asked if she was interested in a part in a movie that involved nudity, which she was fine with. However, when filming a scene with other women in which Franco was simulating oral sex, he removed the plastic guard that covered the participants’ vaginas before continuing to simulate oral sex without that protection. Likewise, there was another example of someone who stated that she was pressured into performing oral sex on Franco, which was something she was not prepared for at the time but had not spoken out about until now because it was complicated by the rest of her relationship with him, which was consensual in nature. These are but two examples of the stories brought up by the article, so it should come as no surprise to learn that there is now a great deal of attention focused on Franco at the moment.
How Is HBO Responding to the Allegations Against James Franco?
In particular, there is now pressure on HBO. This is because Franco plays the part of twins on a drama series called The Deuce, which is being broadcast by HBO. Currently, HBO is taking what can be best described as a wait and see approach to the whole situation.
In short, HBO stated that when the news broke out, it contacted important figures in the production for The Deuce to look for similar incidents. Its efforts turned up no complaints about Franco from either the cast or the crew for the series, which is why it has not chosen to take additional action at this point in time. This is interesting because some people might remember what happened when stories of sexual misconduct came out about Louis C.K. in 2017, which saw a swift cutting of ties between the parties. However, whereas Louis C.K. confirmed the truth of those stories, Franco has denied the truth of the stories told about him.
With that said, some sources have claimed that HBO executives are keeping a close eye on the situation, which is why their choice is best described as being wait and see in nature. In short, they are seeing whether other stories of sexual misconduct will start coming out about Franco, which are likely to have an impact on their decision-making in regards to the case going forward. After all, while HBO has not chosen to sever ties with Franco at this point in time, it still has the option to do so should something new come out.
Further Considerations
Summed up, there are now serious claims of inappropriate behavior on the part of Franco, which were credible enough to have been published by The Los Angeles Times. So far, these claims have not resulted in his removal from The Deuce, but depending on what happens in the near future, that is still one of the possible outcomes to this particular incident.
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