Actor James Franco won a 2018 Best Actor Golden Globe Award for his performance in The Disaster Artist. If his unsavory on- and off-set behavior throughout filming had been revealed at the time, it’s likely the actor would not have been nominated for the award in the first place. In April 2020, his The Disaster Artist co-star Charlyne Yi came forward on Instagram, revealing her experience of being bribed with a larger role in the film after saying she did not want to work with Franco, who has a history of sexual misconduct– something she brought to the producers attention at the time.
She not only called out Franco for his behavior, but also actor Seth Rogen, who “was one of the producers on this film so he definitely knows about the bribe and why I quit,” according to her original Instagram post (below).
Franco and Rogen’s friendship and work relationship dates all the way back to 2008, as they both starred in Pineapple Express. The duo have also starred in many other hit films together including Sausage Party (2016)and the controversial 2014 film The Interview. Franco was eventually included in Rogen’s group of favorite friend-actors to cast in his projects, such as The Night Before (2015).
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Back in 2014, when Franco was exposed for inviting an underage girl to his hotel room, Rogen made a joke out of the situation on SNL. Now that Rogen himself is directly under fire, he is completely flipping the script. He finally responded to Yi’s April claims in an interview with The Sunday Times stating that he has no plans to work with Franco in the future.
Yi has quickly clapped back with a checklist for Rogen to truly redeem himself and demonstrate he is done supporting abusers. Continuing to use Instagram as her platform for activism, Yi listed out her expectations with grand detail.
The post includes three slides of instructions; the first stating:
“Apologize to survivors for making their lives even more vulnerable by publicly siding with an abuser, further damaging their careers and safety; commit to educating self about coercion, sexual assault, and how to be a protective ally; promote protecting and hiring survivors.”
The second slide in her Instagram post, explains the implications of Rogen’s actions: “two rich white male celebrities publicly teaming up sends thousands of fans to attack & threaten the survivors physically and psychologically.”
The third slide provides a list of women for Rogen to apologize to, including, “Sarah Tither-Kaplan, Violet Paley, Hilary Dusome, Natalie Chimel, Katie Ryan, Lucy Clode, and all the unnamed people who have anonymously shared or been too afraid to.”
Take a look at Charlyne’s post. Do you think Rogen will meet these demands? Comment below.
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