American actor James Franco, accused of sexual harassment by several women, admitted to having had "
consensual
"
relations
with students in his drama class and felt that this should not have happened. Among the accusers of Franco, now 43, are four former students of the school he had started in Hollywood. They had publicly denounced the actor's inappropriate behavior in 2018, after the latter received his Golden Globe by wearing a buttonhole in support of the Time's Up organization for the defense of victims of sexual assault. "
Look, I admit it, I slept with some students,
" the artist said duringan interview broadcast Thursday on SiriusXM radio, his first on the subject since 2018.
To read also "I slept with students, and it was bad": James Franco admits his addiction to sex four years later
“
Over the course of my teaching, I slept with students, and it was bad. But that's not why I opened the school,
”he defends himself. A student had in particular told how she participated, with several other women, in a nude scene when Franco would have removed the protective plastic films covering the private parts of the actresses while he was playing simulated scenes of oral sex. Two others claimed that the actor asked them and other actresses to take off their tops while filming at a strip club. A last finally assured that James Franco "
always made everyone feel that
there could be roles at play if we were ready to perform sexual acts or take off our top ”.
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The artist and his lawyers have always refuted these accusations. In his interview, Franco once again denied having had relations with students enrolled in a course entitled "
sex scenes
". He assures that the course had a "
provocative title
" but was not intended specifically to instruct participants on these erotic scenes. "
It was not a Machiavellian plan on my part (...) but yes, there were cases where I had something consensual with a student and I should not have
", he said . In his defense, he spoke of his alcohol addiction when he was a teenager, believing that he replaced it as an adult with an addiction to sex and his own celebrity. "
I guess at the time, I was thinking + if it's consensual, it's OK +,
”he pleaded, acknowledging now that“
it's probably not cool
”.