James Franco’s decision to wear a Time’s Up pin has been described as a "slap in my face" by a former pupil of his film school.
Sarah Tither-Kaplan says she was angered the sight of Franco wearing the pin in support of the newly-created initiative on his lapel at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday (07.01.18).
The Time’s Up campaign was established earlier this month in response to the Hollywood sex scandal in 2017.
However, Tither-Kaplan revealed she found it galling to see Franco support the campaign, as she has accused the 39-year-old actor of abusing his power as the head of Studio 4, the comedy and improv school that he abruptly closed in October last year.
The actress – who has previously appeared in several of Franco’s productions – told the Los Angeles Times newspaper: "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."
More specifically, Tither-Kaplan claimed that during one orgy scene with Franco, he removed protective plastic guards covering other actress’ vaginas and then simulated performing oral sex on them.
Hilary Dusome – who attended one of Franco’s classes in 2012 – was chosen alongside a number of other actresses who appeared in what she thought was one of Franco’s "art films".
The performers were asked to wear masks and lingerie for the shoot, according to Dusome, who also claims they were later asked whether they would remove their shirts.
Dusome said that when no actress volunteered to remove their tops, Franco stormed off.
She said: "I felt like I was selected for something based on my hard work and my merit, and when I realised it was because I have nice [breasts], it was pretty clear that was not the case.
"I don’t think he started teaching with bad intentions, but he went down a bad path and damaged a lot of people in the process."
Another of Franco’s accusers, Natalie Chmiel, claimed that he became "visibly angry" when the actresses declined to remove their tops.
She said: "He just took advantage of our eagerness to work and be a part of something bigger. We were all these up-and-coming actors who were so hopeful."
Meanwhile, Franco addressed the recent spate of allegations during an appearance on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ on Tuesday (09.01.18).
Franco – whose decision to wear the Times’s Up pin was also blasted by Tither-Kaplan in a series of now-deleted tweets – explained: "Look, in my life I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I have done.
"I have to do that to maintain my well being. The things that I heard that were on Twitter are not accurate.
"But 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 shut them down in any way."
James Franco wearing Time’s Up pin felt like a ‘slap in the face’
