Ashley Judd, one of the women who exposed Harvey Weinstein, applauds James Franco for taking responsibility for his past behavior.
Franco was recently slammed by the public for wearing a Time's Up pin to the 75th Golden Globes, where he collected his Best Performance by an Actor trophy onstage. A few women, including The Breakfast Club star Ally Sheedy, accused the actor of sexual misconduct.
A few days later, more women came forward to claim that the 39-year-old made unwanted sexual advances. One of Franco's former lovers even alleged that he once pressured her into giving him oral sex.
Cute #TIMESUP pin James Franco. Remember the time you pushed my head down in a car towards your exposed penis & that other time you told my friend to come to your hotel when she was 17? After you had already been caught doing that to a different 17 year old?
— Violet Paley (@VioletPaley) January 8, 2018
James Franco's Defense
Immediately after his appearance at the Golden Globes, Franco appeared on TV in a guesting on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The actor denied the allegations.
"The things that I heard that were on Twitter are not accurate," he told the host. "But I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice, because they didn't have a voice for so long. I don't want to shut them down in any way. It's, I think, a good thing, and I support it."
He also mentioned the allegation made by Sheedy, whom Franco directed Off-Broadway. He does not remember what he did that upset the former teen star. Sheedy has since deleted her accusation on Twitter.
Ashley Judd Reacts
In a promo for an upcoming episode of BBC's Hardtalk, Judd addressed Franco's public apology. The actress who was hailed as one of Time's Persons of the Year as part of the whistleblowers who exposed the systemic sexual harassment in Hollywood applauded Franco for how he responded to the allegations.
"I think that what James said is terrific," he said to host Stephen Sackur. "And I think that we've all behaved, at a certain level, unconsciously, and done things that were insensitive, inappropriate, without necessarily understanding that they were. I mean, we've all operated with a certain amount of tone deafness, and I like the culpability, and we have to have restorative justice. This is about men and women being all together and having a more equitable and just workplace, home life, social spaces."
Judd is also quite happy with the change that is currently sweeping Hollywood. At a Golden Globes after-party, the actress commented about the decision to wear black as a silent protest against sexual harassment.
"It was a pretty overwhelming and thrilling ceremony, and to hear the extraordinary solidarity for gender equality both in Hollywood, which has this really auspicious opportunity to lead and cross all industries in our country, it's been a very special night," she told InStyle.
Fellow Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan criticized the decision to wear black at the awards night.
