James Franco Denies Sexual Misconduct Allegations On ‘Stephen Colbert’ [VIDEO]

James Franco denied all sexual assault allegations brought against him during an interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show.

JAMES FRANCO ADDRESSES SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS

Franco was accused of sexual misconduct by actresses Violet Paley, Sarah Tither-Kaplan, and Ally Sheedy on Twitter. “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,” Franco told the talk show host. “So, I don’t want to shut them down in any way. It’s, I think, a good thing and I support it.”

Paley says that Franco pushed her head down toward his “exposed penis” while in a car with him, while Sheedy said in a series of now-deleted tweets that Franco is the reason she “left the film/tv business.” Tither-Kaplan, for her part, has urged the actor to “give speaking roles that don’t require nudity in your upcoming films to the dozens of women who had done full nudity and sex scenes in your indie films and art projects.”

“Okay, first of all, I have no idea what I did to Ally Sheedy,” Franco said to Colbert. “I directed her in a play Off Broadway. I had nothing but a great time with her, total respect for her. I have no idea why she was so upset. She took the tweet down. I don’t know. I can’t speak for her, I don’t know. The others, look, in my life I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I’ve done. I have to do that to maintain my well-being. I do it whenever I know that there is something wrong or needs to be changed, I make it a point to do it.”

Franco won best actor at the Golden Globes on Sunday for his work in his own film, The Disaster Artist, based on the best-selling book about filming Tommy Wiseau‘s cult classic The Room. Franco took heat for supporting the Time’s Up initiative, while also being accused of sexual misconduct himself. “I wore [the pin] because I do support it,” he said simply. “I was so excited to win, but being in that room that night was incredible. It was powerful, and there were incredible voices, and I support it. I support change, I support 50/50 in 2020, which just means that people who are underrepresented – women, people of color, people in the LGBT community – get leadership positions, so that they fill all positions that they’ve been deprived of, I completely believe in that. That’s why I wore it.”

When it came to listening and responding to the allegations made against him, Franco assured fans that he had every intention of hearing the women out and making amends if need be. “The way I live my life, I can’t live if there’s restitution to be made. 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. I don’t know what else, I don’t know what else to do,” Franco said. “I mean, as far as the bigger issues, you know, how we do it. I, look, I really don’t have the answers and I think the point of this whole thing is that we listen. You know, there were incredible people talking that night. They had a lot to say, and I’m here to listen and learn and change my perspective where it’s off, and I’m completely willing and want to.”

In the wake of the allegations against Franco, The New York Times canceled a speaking event with the actor. “Given the controversy surrounding recent allegations, we’re no longer comfortable proceeding in that vein,” a statement from the paper said.

See Franco’s interview with Colbert below.