James Franco’s latest remarks admitting to sleeping with his students did not sit well with the two women who accused him of sexual misconduct in 2018.
Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal slammed Franco’s first statement in four years since the accusations, describing him as “insensitive” and guilty of “despicable conduct”.
The two responded via their lawyers, telling People magazine, “Franco is completely insensitive to, and still apparently does not care about, the immense pain and suffering he put his victims through.”
Franco had earlier reached a settlement deal with Tither-Kaplan and Gaal, as part of which they agreed to drop their claims and received $2,235,000 from him.
“It is unbelievable that even after agreeing to a settlement he continues to downplay the survivors' experiences and ignore their pain,” the statement further said.
It continued, “This wasn't a misunderstanding over a course name, it wasn't the result of him being overworked — it was, and is, despicable conduct.”
"Nobody should confuse this interview with Franco taking accountability for his actions or expressing remorse over what happened. It is a transparent ducking of the real issues released just before a major holiday in hopes that he wouldn't face any scrutiny over his response."
In his interview, Franco had said that he struggled with sex addition for years and that he had ‘consensual’ sex with his students and was unaware of ‘power dynamics’ at the time.
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