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James Franco has been an outcast in Hollywood for the last few years. The Disaster Artist actor found himself on the wrong end of the #MeToo movement after multiple accusations of sexual impropriety were levied against him by both his peers and underlings in the industry.

Franco's last major role was in one of the short stories in the Coen brothers' 2019 Western anthology film, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. He has continued working, nonetheless, both as an actor and producer in a number of different projects, albeit without the widespread support that he once enjoyed.

The 44-year-old's name has been back in the news in recent weeks, following his links to the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp trial. He worked with Heard in the 2015 crime drama film, The Adderall Diaries, and their manner around each other didn't go down very well with her then-husband, Depp, who suspected them of cheating behind his back.

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While it appears that a comeback to acting is not completely out of the question for Franco, he faces a long way to redeem his image as well as his career. Any future work he does will also be going towards recouping a sum in excess of $2 million that he lost in court, as settlement for a sexual misconduct lawsuit against him.

James Franco Propositioned A Teenage Girl On Instagram

The first time any kind of impropriety allegations were levied against James Franco was in 2014, when a 17-year-old European girl revealed that he had propositioned her on Instagram. Those accusations were soon proven right, with the teenager providing screenshot proof of their conversation.

Despite the fact that the legal age of consent in New York is 17, the debacle caused a lot of uproar against Franco, and became the first drop of a torrent of allegations of his improper conduct. He did also later admit that he had made advances towards the girl, but he chalked it off as a mistake thanks to social media being 'tricky.'

RELATED: James Franco Slammed By Accusers For Downplaying Misconduct

In 2018, he attended the Golden Globes ceremony at the Beverley Hilton hotel in California, where his movie, The Disaster Artist was up for two gongs on the night. A Time's Up lapel pin he wore in solidarity with #MeToo sparked outrage against him, and opened up the barrage of accusations that would follow.

Ally Sheedy And Sarah Tither-Kaplan Called James Franco Out On Social Media

The Breakfast Club star Ally Sheedy was the first person to take to social media to call out James Franco for his apparent hypocrisy in wearing a Time's Up pin, and the rest of the Hollywood fraternity for allowing him into the event at all. Although the actress would later delete the series of tweets that she sent out, this set the ball rolling for more accusations against him.

'Why is James Franco allowed in?' Sheedy wrote on the social media platform. When Franco won the Golden Globe for Best Performance in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, she added, 'James Franco just won. Please never ask me why I left the film/TV industry.'

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Another actress - Sarah Tither-Kaplan - also vented her own story about Franco on Twitter. 'Hey James Franco, nice #timesup pin at the #GoldenGlobes,' she wrote. 'Remember a few weeks ago when you told me the full nudity you had me do in two of your movies for $100/day wasn't exploitative because I signed a contract to do it? Times up on that!'

Within a week of the Golden Globes event, it was reported that five women were planning on taking legal action against James Franco. The ladies asserted that the actor had acted inappropriately and been sexually exploitative of them while he ran an acting school.

Among those pursuing redress against Franco was Sarah Tither-Kaplan, who had enrolled to his Studio 4 acting school. Together with fellow actress Toni Gaal, Kaplan led the suit against Franco, seeking the destruction or return of any footage that they felt was inappropriate or exploitative, and an unspecified sum in monetary restitution.

In February 2021, it was revealed that Franco had reached a deal with the plaintiffs, in which he agreed to part with a total sum of $2,235,000 to settle the dispute. This appeared to be the final nail on the coffin of Franco's career, as this was essentially deemed to be an admission of guilt.

About 10 months later, The Deuce actor also made a full concession that he had in fact been sleeping with his students at the school, and claimed that he was struggling with sexual addiction.

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