5 women just shared shocking allegations against James Franco

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Times published a report in which several women detailed James' alleged habit of coercing women into nudity for his projects, and into non-consensual sex acts.

As James accepted his award for best actor in a comedy on Sunday, women began tweeting about the actor's past behavior. "James Franco just won. Please never ever ask me why I left the film/tv business,"Breakfast Club actor Ally Sheedy wrote in a now-deleted tweet. "Why is a man hosting? Why is James Franco allowed in? Said too much. Nite love ya #goldenglobes." Sheedy wasn't the only one:

Sarah Tither-Kaplan, formerly a student at James' acting school Studio 4 (which was shut down in 2017), was more specific in her interview with the Times than she was on Twitter. Sarah alleged that James removed the plastic covering on actresses' vaginas while pretending to perform oral sex on them during an orgy scene she and several other women filmed with him. James reportedly pitched the orgy as a "bonus scene" for his feature film, The Long Way Home (which has yet to be released). Other actresses who appeared in the scene reportedly confirmed Sarah's account. Katie Ryan, who also took classes at the school, said James "would always make everybody think there were possible roles on the table if we were to perform sexual acts or take off our shirts."

Violet Paley, another woman whose tweets gained media attention Sunday, told the Times that James promised to help her with her acting career when she met him in early 2016, then they began dating. She alleges that one night he pressured her to perform oral sex on him while they were sitting in a parked car—something she didn't want to do. "I was talking to him, all of a sudden his penis was out,” Violet told the Times. “I got really nervous, and I said, ‘Can we do this later?’ He was kind of nudging my head down, and I just didn’t want him to hate me, so I did it." In hindsight, she told the Times, she believes James exploited the "power dynamic" between them.

Hilary Dusome and Natalie Chmiel, both James' students when he taught at Playhouse West in North Hollywood, told the Times that James lured them under murky pretenses—either to shoot an "art film" or a high-end jean commercial—to a strip club and allegedly grew angry when no one in the group of actresses he'd assembled would go topless in front of the camera. "I felt like I was selected for something based on my hard work and my merit, and when I realized it was because I have nice [breasts], it was pretty clear that was not the case," Hilary told the Times.

James has previously come under fire for allegedly trying to pick up a 17-year-old girl on Instagram on 2014, enticing her to meet him in a hotel room. The girl posted screenshots of their alleged conversation, which were shared by Gawker. Per People, James responded to the allegations on Live With Kelly And Michael, saying: "I’m embarrassed and I guess I’m just a model of how social media is tricky." He added that "I used bad judgment and I learned my lesson."

In a Tuesday interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, James vowed to make amends for any wrongdoing on his part, while also calling the Twitter allegations "not accurate." "In my life I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I’ve done. I have to do that to maintain my well-being. I do it whenever I know that there is something wrong or needs to be changed, I make it a point to do it," he said. "I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice because they didn’t have a voice for so long. So I don’t want to—I don’t want to, you know, shut them down in any way." He also said that he had "no idea" why Ally was upset with him.

He was also questioned about the allegations on Wednesday night during an appearance on Late Night With . When Seth asked James if the Time's Up and #MeToo movements have made him question his own behavior towards women, James answered, "I have my own side of this story, but I believe in, you know, these people that have been underrepresented getting their stories out enough that I will, you know, hold back things that I could say just because I believe in it that much." He added, “And if I have to take a knock because I’m not going to, you know, try and, you know, actively refute things, then I will, because I believe in it that much." He also told Seth that he hadn't reached out to Ally at all about her allegations, saying, "I guess I’m just letting it be."

Regarding the allegations made in the Los Angeles Times story, James either denied or said he had no memory of the behavior the women interviewed described. His attorney, Cynthia Huffman, told the Times that she had received no complaints from actors about her client's behavior, at least not during filming of The Long Way Home. And some students at James' school interviewed by the Times reported positive experiences working with the actor.

"James is all about giving up and comers, actors and actresses and young filmmakers a break in this business,” Huffman said. “I feel horrible that anyone was made to feel uncomfortable but we went to great lengths to make sure all the actresses in the nude scenes felt comfortable and safe."