James Franco To Pay Over $2 Million To Settle Sexual Misconduct Lawsuit

Details of the settlement between Hollywood star James Franco, his now-closed acting school, and former students have been made public after revealing that settlement been reached in February and the proposed number is over $2.2 million.

Franco was initially sued in a 2019 class-action lawsuit by two former students who attended his Studio 4 acting school which ran between 2014 and 2017. During their time at the school, the two students alleged that Franco and his partners had coerced the students into filming overt sexual acts.

In a June 24 notice of joint motion and joint motion for preliminary approval shared by Deadline on Wednesday, the exact sum of what Franco and his lawyers are offering to settle the case was revealed to be $2,235,000. However, This number is yet to be approved by a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge.

Despite this huge sum being bought to the table, Franco and his partners still continue to deny the allegations made against them. But, as stated in the document, the Defendants acknowledge that “Plaintiffs have raised important issues.”

“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,” the joint statement on behalf of Franco and his former students reads. “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.”

The settlement would see the named Plaintiffs release their claims, with other students also releasing fraud claims against James Franco. According to the document, almost $1-million will be allocated to settle the Named Plaintiffs individual claims with the remaining $1.3-million to be put into a Common Fund that will be used to settle the fraud claims pursued by other members of the class action. Unclaimed money from the suit will reportedly be contributed to the National Women’s Law Center.