James Franco has failed to secure a nomination for the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in The Disaster Artist. Something that is perhaps unsurprising considering that he is one of the figures who have been named in the wave of sexual misconduct stories that have come out in recent times. With that said, Franco is reported to have met the news of what can be perceived as being a snub with mixed emotions. On the one hand, he is said to have been disappointed. However, on the other hand, he is said to have been relieved because his present course of action seems to be staying out of sight in hopes that it will render him out of mind as well. So far, Franco has denied the worst of the accusations that have been made against him but has apologized to at least one of his accusers as well.
For those who haven’t been paying much attention to the news, Franco has been accused of a wide range of inappropriate behavior by a number of women, including some who were students at his film school. The exact details of what the women said happened to them can be found in the Los Angeles Times, but the gist of it is that he is being accused of using his power to engage in exploitative behavior. For example, one woman claimed that at the filming for one of Franco’s projects, he asked a number of actresses to do a topless scene. When one of the actresses refused, she was sent home. Furthermore, others have noted an incident when Franco became angered when none of the actresses involved in another scene agreed to go topless. On top of these examples, there was the story of a woman who said that Franco pressured her into performing oral sex on her, which was something that she didn’t report at the time because the whole thing was complicated by the fact that she entered into a consensual sexual relationship with him afterwards. Something that wasn’t helped by the fact that she was a young woman who admired him a great deal at the time.
Summed up, the stories that have been told about Franco aren’t as bad as the stories that have been told about some of the other entertainment figures caught up in the recent wave of revelations, but they are pretty bad nonetheless. It remains to be seen how Franco’s career will be affected in the long run by the revelations, which have brought low some while sparing others. However, seeing as how he has chosen to stay low at the moment while still denying the accusations that have been made against him, it can be said that they have already had a noticeable impact in the short run.
As for the Oscars, it is no wonder that it has failed to nominate Franco for Best Actor. Certainly, this could be the result of moral outrage. However, it is difficult to imagine that the people behind the Oscars haven’t considered the PR implications of nominating Franco under current circumstances, not least because that would require a complete lack of PR instincts from a lot of people. Combined, not nominating Franco for the Oscar was the sensible choice, regardless of the merits of his performance.
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