A sexual misconduct lawsuit filed by two of James Franco’s former students at his Studio 4 Film School has settled, according to court documents.
The documents show that Franco has offered to pay a total of $2,235,000 US in order to have the plaintiffs, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gall “release their individual claims without prejudice”. A judge needs to sign off on the proposal but if it does go through, Tither-Kaplan will receive $670,000 US (minus $223,500 US in lawyer fees), and Gall will receive $235,000 US (minus $74,500 US in lawyer fees).
James Franco Will Pay $2.2 million to Settle Sexual Misconduct Lawsuit
An additional, $1,341,000 US will be paid out to other students of the Studio 4 Film School who were allegedly defrauded by the acting school. Any unclaimed funds will benefit the National Women’s Law Center.
A joint statement made by Studio 4 Film School and Franco reads: “While Defendants continue to deny the allegations in the Complaint, they acknowledge that Plaintiffs have raised important issues; and all parties strongly believe that now is a critical time to focus on addressing the mistreatment of women in Hollywood.”
“All agree on the need to make sure that no one in the entertainment industry — regardless of race, religion, disability, ethnicity, background, gender or sexual orientation — faces discrimination, harassment or prejudice of any kind.”
These are certainly not the first allegations made against the 43 year old actor. Franco first fell into public hot water after propositioning an underage girl (whom he knew was not yet 18) and has endured continual complaints from many students of the Studio 4 schools which opened in 2014 but shut abruptly in the fall of 2017.
Seth Rogen has recently confirmed he has no further plans to work with his longtime friend and collaborator following the multitude of sexual misconduct allegations filed against him.
“I … look back to that interview in 2018 where I comment that I would keep working with James, and the truth is that I have not and I do not plan to right now,” Rogen said. “I can say it, you know, [the allegations have] changed many things in our relationship and our dynamic.”
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