James Franco admits that he slept with students because he was sexually addicted, Reuters says

Author: Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Oscar-nominated actor James Franco has admitted to sleeping with students in a previously run acting school, saying he was struggling with sex addiction and has been working to improve his behavior in recent years.

In an episode of The Jess Cagle Podcast, which was made public on Wednesday, 43-year-old Franco said he was teaching “that he slept with the students, and that was wrong.” He said he did not start school to attract women for sexual purposes.

“I guess at the time, my thinking was that it was a consensus, okay,” he added to the SiriusXM podcast. “I didn’t have a clear head at the time.”

The statements were the first to comment on Franco’s allegations against him nearly four years ago, when the Los Angeles Times reported that five women had reported Franco’s misconduct.

Later, in October 2019, two women filed a civil lawsuit against the “Pineapple Express” stars, accusing them of exploiting aspiring actors in a now-defunct school and deceiving young women into filming sex scenes.

Franco said he developed sexual addiction after becoming sober as a result of an alcohol addiction he developed at a young age. “It’s such a powerful drug,” he said. “I was hooked for another 20 years. The evil side of that is that I’ve been sober with alcohol all along.”

Franco attended the 2011 Oscars and was nominated for the 2012 Awards for his work on “127 Hours.”

The plaintiff agreed to pay $ 2.2 million this year to settle the 2019 civil lawsuit, according to documents filed in Los Angeles High Court.

In a podcast interview, Franco also said he has been cured of sex addiction since 2016 and is “doing a great job” following allegations against him, “and changing who I was.”

“I didn’t want to hurt people,” he said.