James Franco Accused Of Sexual Harassment And Exploitation By Former Studio 4 Students In Lawsuit

Two former Studio 4 students have filed suit, accusing James Franco of inappropriate sexual behavior.

The New York Times reported Toni Gaal and Sarah Tither-Kaplan filed the lawsuit Thursday in Los Angeles, accusing the actor of sexual harassment and exploitation while they were enrolled in his acting school. Tither-Kaplan and Gaal also named Franco’s production company, Rabbit Bandini, the company’s general manager, Jay Davis, and Franco’s business partner, Vince Jolivette, in the lawsuit.

The suit claims Franco and his partners used the program as a way to engage “in widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behavior toward female students” by promising future roles in movies. This created “an environment of harassment and sexual exploitation” in and out of classes for most female students.

Gaal and Tither-Kaplan cited Studio 4’s master class programs that cost as much as $2,000 each. One of these was a $750 master class on sex scenes that had potential students audition on tape and sign away rights to the recordings. They also said students were pushed outside their comfort zones and denied items like nudity riders, disregarding Hollywood guidelines on nudity and sex on film.

Franco and Jolivette opened Studio 4 in 2014 in New York and Los Angeles but closed in 2017 after multiple women claimed sexual harassment. Gaal and Tither-Kaplan said they attended the Los Angeles-arm of the school.

Franco’s lawyer, Michael Plonsker, issued a statement denying the allegations in the lawsuit.

“This is not the first time that these claims have been made and they have already been debunked,” Plonsker said in the statement. “We have not had an opportunity to review the ill-informed complaint in depth since it was leaked to the press before it was filed and our client has yet to even be served. James will not only fully defend himself, but will also seek damages from the plaintiffs and their attorneys for filing this scurrilous publicity seeking lawsuit.”