James Franco appears to have been caught propositioning a teenage girl to meet him at a hotel – but could it have been an attempt for viral promotion of his new movie, Palo Alto?

James Franco Flirting With Teen?

A Scottish girl named Lucy Clode, 17, claims she met Franco following one of his Of Mice and Men shows with Chris O’Dowd. Following the brief encounter, Franco allegedly began flirting with Clode over Instagram and subsequently through text messages.

“Where do you live? NYC?,” Franco reportedly asked Clode over Instagram “How long will you be in New York? You're 18? Who are you with? Do you have a bf?.”

Over text messages, the Oscar-nominated actor supposedly asked, “Can I see you? You're single? What's the hotel? Should I rent a room?”

Palo Alto

While Clode presented screenshots of the conversations – which she's since removed from the Internet – some wonder if they may have been photoshopped. There’s also a theory gaining steam that Franco intentionally had the screenshot faked and is staging the whole thing to promote Palo Alto.

In Palo Alto, Franco plays a soccer coach named Mr. B who comes onto and has an affair with one of his players, played by Emma Roberts The film is based off of one of the short stories in Franco’s collection Palo Alto Stories and was adapted for the big screen by both the actor and Gia Coppola, who directed the picture.

– Chelsea Regan

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