James Fraco’s bromance with Seth Rogen has run its course. In an interview with Variety, Franco revealed that he’s been out of communication with Rogen for years now.
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“I haven’t talked to Seth,” Franco told the outlet. “I love Seth, we had 20 great years together, but I guess it’s over. And not for lack of trying. I’ve told him how much he’s meant to me.”
Franco and Rogen met as teenagers. They starred alongside one another in projects including Freaks and Geeks, Pineapple Express, This Is the End, and The Disaster Artist.
James Franco’s 2019 Controversy
Their collabs came to a screeching halt in 2019. That year, Franco was accused of sexually exploiting women who took his acting class. While Franco denied the allegations against him, he settled the lawsuit in 2021.
Per People, the parties released a joint statement at the time, which said that the lawsuit had “raised important issues.”
Later that year, during an appearance on The Jess Cagle podcast, Rogen said he slept with students at his acting school, which was “wrong,” but not “a master plan,” Variety reported.
While Rogen initially publicly supported Franco, in 2021 he spoke out against his longtime pal during an interview with The Sunday Times.
“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. He added he did “not plan to” work with Franco again.
In his Variety interview, Franco admitted that “being told you’re bad is painful,” but said the experience is “what I needed to just stop going the way I was going.”
As for how his acting jobs stalled as a result of the scandal, Franco said, “I mean, it is what it is. I’ve honestly moved past it. It was dealt with, and I got to change. So that’s it, it’s over.”