James Franco Notably Absent From ‘The Deuce’ Season 2 Premiere Announcement

HBO announced the premiere date for season 2 of The Deuce, but James Franco, who plays one the period piece’s main characters, is noticeably absent from the promo.

In a tweet shared Monday, HBO announced, “#TheDeuce returns for season two Sunday, Sept. 9 at 9PM on @HBO.” The post featured a photo of star Maggie Gyllenhaal standing on a New York street in her role as Candy. But noticeably missing from the show art is Franco, who in addition to starring in the series is also an executive producer and director.

Franco has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women since the show finished its first season — but HBO previously confirmed that he would appear in season 2. While some fans of the show may be reading into Franco’s absence from the promo, TVLine reports that the art featuring Gyllenhaal is simply one of many to come.

“…A source for [HBO] tells TVLine that the image accompanying the announcement is merely one of several Season 2 photos set to be released,” read the report from TVLine. “The insider also stressed that the picture is not the official key art.”

The January report from the Los Angeles Times in which five women accused Franco of sexual misconduct led to much controversy as well as Franco’s erasure from Vanity Fair‘s Academy Awards cover.

Some of the five women who accused him of misconduct in the Times report called him out on social media for wearing a Time’s Up pin at this year’s Golden Globes Awards. Following his win for The Disaster Artist in January, actress Ally Sheedy, who worked with Franco in the 2014 play The Long Shift, implied on Twitter that he is why she “left the film/TV business.”

“James Franco just won. Please never ever ask me why I left the film/TV business,” she wrote in the tweet that was quickly deleted.

Franco defended himself on late-night TV shows.

“Look, in my life I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I have done,” Franco told Stephen Colbert on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “I have to do that to maintain my well being. The things that I heard that were on Twitter are not accurate. But I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice because they didn’t have a voice for so long. So I don’t want to shut them down in any way. If I have done something wrong. I will fix it — I have to.”

HBO and The Deuce co-creator David Simon defended Franco, saying that there were no reports of bad behavior while he worked on the show. “We have verified that no complaints about Mr. Franco have come in on The Deuce production,” HBO said in a statement to Deadline in January.

“I’m still reading it the same as everyone else, trying to discern what is or isn’t there,” Simon said in a statement. “Personally I can only speak knowledgeably to The Deuce. I’ve checked with all my fellow producers and other personnel. We have no complainant or complaint or any awareness of any incident of concern involving Mr. Franco. Nor has HBO been approached with any complaint. In our experience, he was entirely professional as an actor, director, and producer.”

In The Deuce, Franco plays identical twin brothers Vincent and Frankie Martino who become entangled in the rise of prostitution and the adult film entertainment industry in 1970s Manhattan. The series returns for season 2 on Sept. 9.