Seth Rogen recently shed light on why he may never collaborate with James Franco again, marking a significant shift in their longstanding partnership. The duo, known for their work in films like “Pineapple Express,” “The Interview,” and “This Is The End,” first teamed up on the 1999 TV series “Freaks and Geeks.” Their collaborations spanned nearly two decades, concluding with the 2019 release of “Zeroville.”
However, their dynamic changed after Franco faced accusations from multiple women in 2018 alleging sexually inappropriate behavior. The situation escalated when Franco settled with two of his former acting students who had accused him of sexual misconduct. During an appearance on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Podcast, Franco admitted to having relationships with some of his students, acknowledging the impropriety of his actions.
“Over the course of my teaching, I did sleep with students, and that was wrong,” Franco confessed. “But like I said, it’s not why I started the school and I wasn’t the person that selected the people to be in the class. So it wasn’t a ‘master plan’ on my part. But yes, there were certain instances where, you know what, I was in a consensual thing with a student and I shouldn’t have been.”
In light of these revelations, Rogen expressed a change of heart about his future with Franco during an interview with The Sunday Times’ Culture magazine. “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 stated. He admitted that the allegations had fundamentally altered their friendship and professional relationship.
“I 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 can say it, um, you know, it has changed many things in our relationship and our dynamic.”
Franco, for his part, holds no resentment towards Rogen for distancing himself. In his conversation with Cagle, Franco expressed understanding and affection for Rogen despite the circumstances.
“I love Seth Rogen. I worked with him for 20 years. We didn’t have one fight for 20 years. Not one fight. He was my absolute closest work friend, collaborator. We just gelled. What he said is true. You know, we aren’t working together right now and we don’t have any plans to work together. Of course, it was hurtful, in context, but I get it. He had to answer for me ’cause I was silent. He had to answer for me, and I don’t want that. So that’s why, that’s one of the main reasons I wanted to talk to you today: I don’t want Seth or my brother or anyone to have to answer for me anymore.”
This shift marks the end of an era for Rogen and Franco, and underscores the complexities of personal and professional relationships in Hollywood, particularly in the wake of serious allegations.