James Franco is reportedly calling his exes to inquire about his past behavior
In the past few weeks, James Franco has gone from a press tour promoting his new movie The Disaster Artist to a press tour addressing recent sexual misconduct allegations against him. Franco recently appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Late Night with Seth Meyers to respond to the five women who have accused him of predatory behavior and harassment, and now it appears James Franco has been calling women from his past to possibly make amends.
A source told People that Franco has known these allegations were going to be made public, and has spent the past month or so trying to connect with former partners to get a better understanding of their experiences with him:
"James has been reaching out to former girlfriends for the past month asking about his behavior, the source said. “He’s known this was coming and was trying to get ahead of the story.
It’s unclear whether Franco has actually been apologizing to these women he might be calling, but according to Violet Paley — the actress who, on Twitter, accused Franco of pressuring her for oral sex and propositioning a 17-year-old friend of hers — Franco called her and others with “overdue, annoyed, convenient phone [apologies]’” sometime in December. Paley did not accept his apology.
A couple weeks ago, James offered me & a few other girls an overdue, annoyed, convenient phone “apology”. I don’t accept, but maybe some other people’s lives would be made easier if he donated all of his earnings from “The Disaster Artist” to @RAINN01.
— Violet (@VioletPaley) January 9, 2018
The description that Franco was “trying to get ahead of the story” suggests these calls may have been more about damage control than taking responsibility for his actions, but we can’t know for sure. Franco has said the accusations are “not accurate,” but he’s also been adamant that the women coming forward should be heard.
"The way I live my life, I can’t live if there’s restitution to be made," Franco told Stephen Colbert. "I will make it. So if I’ve done something wrong, I will fix it. I have to. I mean, I think that’s how that works."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRJuIrO9GaU?feature=oembed
Franco skipped the recent Critics’ Choice Awards (where he was awarded with Best Actor in a Comedy trophy for The Disaster Artist) in the wake of the allegations, but he’s reportedly set to attend the 2018 SAG Awards. The SAG Awards, in case you missed it, are the awards ceremony that will feature all female presenters this year to celebrate women and combat the obstacles they face — you know, like rampant sexual harassment.
It will be interesting to see how James Franco’s attendance goes over when the 2018 SAG Awards air on Sunday, January 21st.
