Seth Rogen Says He Won’t Work With James Franco Anymore Due to Sexual Harassment Allegations

Seth Rogen is officially speaking out about his dynamic with James Franco, after allegations of the actor engaging in sexually inappropriate behavior have resurfaced. Rogen spoke about the subject in an interview with The Sunday Times, as well as the ways he publicly addressed — or did not address — Franco’s problematic behavior. The two have worked together onscreen in a string of movies and television shows, beginning with the 1999 TV series Freaks and Geeks, and ending with 2019’s Zeroville. As Rogen revealed, it is “not a coincidence” that his and Franco’s professional relationship has fizzled out in recent years, and that he does not plan to continue working with the actor.

“I also look back to that interview in 2018 where I comment that I would keep working with James, and the truth is that I have not and I do not plan to right now,” Rogen said.

“I don’t know if I can define [our friendship] right now during this interview,” Rogen continued. “I can say it, um, you know, it has changed many things in our relationship and our dynamic.”

Allegations towards Franco first began to surface in 2014, when a 17-year-old girl alleged that Franco had direct messaged her on Instagram in hopes of meeting up. Rogen had previously joked about that behavior in a Saturday Night Live appearance that same year, joking during his monologue that he’d tried to catfish the actor by posing as a teenage girl.

“What I can say is that I despise abuse and harassment and I would never cover or conceal the actions of someone doing it, or knowingly put someone in a situation where they were around someone like that,” Rogen said of the joke. “However, I do look back at a joke I made on Saturday Night Live in 2014 and I very much regret making that joke. It was a terrible joke, honestly.”

Franco then became the subject of allegations in 2018, with multiple students from his former acting school accusing him of fraud, sexual harassment, and sexual exploitation. Those allegations have since been submitted as a lawsuit, which was settled in February of this year.

Rogen and Franco’s projects together have also included Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, The Green Hornet, This is The End, The Sound and the Fury, The Interview, The Night Before, Sausage Party, and The Disaster Artist.