James Franco reaches settlement with former students sexual misconduct case

Two women who accused James Franco of sexual misconduct at his defunct film school have dropped their charges in light of a new settlement agreement. 

In 2019, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal filed a class action lawsuit against the actor and his Studio 4 school. The acting and film school was open from 2014 to 2017, during which time the accusers said Franco and his fellow teachers “engaged in widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behavior towards female students by sexualizing their power as a teacher and an employer by dangling the opportunity for roles in their projects.”

Over a year later, the two sides have reached a settlement agreement. The financial terms of the agreement are not yet public, though they must be submitted for court approval by March 15th. The agreement finds Tither-Kaplan and Gaal agreeing to drop their suit against Franco; his partners, Vince Jolivette and Jay Davis; and his Rabbit Bandini production company.

Allegations of Franco’s misconduct began to surface at the height of the #MeToo movement in 2018 after he won the Golden Globe for his role as Tommy Wiseau in The Disaster Artist. Since then, Franco has kept a low profile, sticking to self-directed projects like Zeroville or minor voice roles in Arctic Dogs.