Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert Grill James Franco Over Sexual Harassment Claims

The reports come from women who attended Franco’s acting school Studio 4 — or who otherwise considered the actor a mentor in the film industry. The first accusations came via social media on Sunday night, when Franco wore a “Time’s Up” pin to the Golden Globes. A former acting student, Sarah Tither-Kaplan, tweeted:

“I feel there was an abuse of power, and there was a culture of exploiting non-celebrity women, and a culture of women being replaceable,” she told the Los Angeles Times about a nude orgy scene Tither-Kaplan filmed with Franco three years ago. Over the course of filming, he removed the plastic guards covering the vaginas of several actresses’ while simulating oral sex.

Violet Paley, a 23-year-old actress who met Franco in early 2016 also tweeted in response to his Golden Globes appearance.

Last night, Franco was on Late Night with Seth Meyers, prior to the Times report, but after Tither-Kaplan and Paley’s tweets. Meyers asked him to address the allegations. “The [tweets] I read were not accurate,” the actor told Meyers. “But one of the things I’ve learned is that this is a conversation that obviously needs to be had. There are people, women and others, who have not been a part of this conversation. And I truly believe they need to be part of this conversation. So that’s why I was wearing the pin and I support that.”

Over on Stephen Colbert’s show, Franco gave an awkward response when asked about the allegations. In response to Colbert, Franco said: “Things that I heard were on Twitter are not accurate, but I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice.”

In 2014, Franco admitted to trying to meet up with a 17-year-old girl, and he responded on Instagram with “I HOPE PARENTS KEEP THEIR TEENS AWAY FROM ME.” The New York Times canceled an event featuring Franco amid the allegations.