James Franco and his former longtime collaborator Seth Rogen no longer have a friendship after the actor was hit with sexual misconduct allegations in 2018.
“I haven’t talked to Seth. I love Seth, we had 20 great years together, but I guess it’s over,” Franco told Variety of his relationship with Rogen while promoting his new film “Hey Joe.” The movie serves as Franco’s second film to release since 2019.
“And not for lack of trying. I’ve told him how much he’s meant to me.”
Rogen, who previously worked with Franco on 1999’s “Freaks and Geeks” as well as several films including “The Interview” and “Pineapple Express,” publicly distanced himself from Franco professionally after the actor was hit with the allegations.
In an 2021 interview with the Sunday Times — which took place months after Franco, 46, settled his misconduct lawsuit — the “Knocked Up” star revealed he did not plan to continue working with Franco anymore.
“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, 42, said.
Franco came under fire after several female former acting students of his came forward alleging the “Spring Breakers” star “sexually exploited” them by using his now-defunct film school to engage in “widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behavior towards female students,”
The Oscar winner’s acting career went on a 4-year hiatus as he took a step away from the spotlight before making a return in Bille August’s 2022 post-World War II drama “Me, You.”
In his Variety interview, he said he’s “grateful” for the time away from the spotlight and afforded him “a chance to just do whatever private work and really change what I need to change.”
He shared that he used his time away from Hollywood for “good purpose.”
“I’m so grateful to be working. I did go through a lawsuit, and during that lawsuit I wasn’t working. But then COVID hit so everybody wasn’t working. So, I don’t know, it was all… I mean, we were all kind of in it. So it was sort of like, ‘I don’t know what I am,’” Franco said.
“But I did certainly use the time to, I hope, good purpose. And whatever had been going on with me before, I had to change my whole way of life.”
Franco added, “So I am proud of the kind of work I did during that time. And yeah, I wasn’t working in movies, but I certainly was doing a lot of work to change who I was.”