Seth Rogen and James Franco have collaborated on some of our favourite projects over the years, some that I would say are genuine cult classics.
Rogen has revealed that he will no longer participate in any projects with Franco due to abuse allegations against his long-time friend.
During the time the two have worked together, there have been multiple allegations of abuse directed at James Franco one very recently from
Charlene Yi.
Maybe in the past, it has been easier to brush these off and move on. These days, Franco can no longer get away with it. Thanks largely to a Hollywood power shift, where the rich and powerful can no longer take advantage of their less privileged peers (and fans).
Although it is probably the right decision for Rogan, one would think he could have done this a lot earlier. Ok, so they are (were) friends, and you should stand by the people closest to you, to a certain extent. What if your friend had been accused by multiple people of sexual exploitation, and by extension, this could really hurt your reputation or career (or both)? You would distance yourself as soon as you can. Not to mention the fact that it would just be the right thing to do.
Rogen has now put that distance between him and Franco, the correct move. Let’s just hope it’s not too little too late. He seemed to defend his friend in the past and vowed to continue working with him, he has recently turned that promise around.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Rogan stated that the support he had shown Franco in a previous statement, no longer stands
“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… I don’t know if I can define [our friendship] right now during this interview. I can say it, um, you know, it has changed many things in our relationship and our dynamic.”
Rogen was asked directly about the allegations against Franco:
“…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.”
I'm just used to people saying this kind of stuff for attention when it's like, actions speak louder than words.
