Celebrity5 min(s) read
Published 16:24 29 Apr 2026 GMT
James Franco's co-star has alleged that she tried to quit starring in The Disaster Artist and called the actor a "sexual predator" in a scathing social media post.
Charlyne Yi, who appeared in the 48-year-old's 2017 film as costume designer Safowa Bright-Asare, detailed the claims in a series of Instagram posts shared during Sexual Assault Awareness Month back in 2021.
According to the 40-year-old actress, she attempted to "break legal contract" and quit the movie, but said her objections were brushed aside.
She claimed filmmakers "minimized" her concerns and "said Franco being a predator was so last yr and that he changed… when I literally heard of him abusing new women that week".
Yi also alleged she was offered a larger role to remain involved, calling it "the exact opposite of what I wanted".
Beyond Franco, Yi directed sharp criticism at those she says enabled sexual misconduct, specifically naming producer Seth Rogen among those who should be held responsible.
"Enablers are just as toxic and are abusers too," she wrote. "Disgusted by white men choosing power over protecting children and women from predators. Educate, organize, and dismantle corruption in your circles and in the law."
She continued: "White men saying it’s not their responsibility when holding Franco accountable, or when holding Seth Rogen and enablers accountable. Then whose responsibility is it? The women and children who have PTSD from Franco? Or the future targets of abuse?"
In a caption accompanying the post, the House actress expanded on those accusations, writing: "Seth Rogen was one of the producers on this film, so he definitely knows about the bribe and why I quit."
"Seth also did a sketch on ‘SNL’ with Franco enabling Franco preying on children. Right after Franco was caught," she continued. "Franco has a long history of preying on children. This is on top all the corrupt laws that protect predators made by violent white men."
A few months after Yi’s claims, Franco admitted he had used fame "as a lure" in a candid interview on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show.
The Spring Breakers star revealed in his first interview since his sexual misconduct allegations surfaced that he slept with students at his acting school, Studio 4, and said he had been "completely blind" to "power dynamics" and "people’s feelings," cited by Deadline.
"Along the road of trying to get success and climb the top of that mountain, attention from women, success with women also became a huge source of validation for me," he said. "The problem with that is…like any sort of drug or anything, there’s never enough. It was never-ending."
Reflecting on addiction and behavior that spiraled beyond his control, Franco added: "So in my head it was like, ‘Oh, I’m sober. I’m living a spiritual life,' where on the side I’m acting out now in all these other ways, and I couldn’t see it."
Addressing allegations that the school functioned as "to create a pipeline of young women who would be subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation," Franco denied there was ever a "master plan".
However, he admitted that he "was not clear-headed" and had wrongly justified relationships with students because they were "consensual".
The Interview star also called naming one of his classes "Sex Scenes" as "one of the stupidest things" he had done.
"It should have been called ‘Contemporary Romance’ or something like that," Franco said. "It was a class where they did scenes about romances…what they go through as young people - so, meeting people on dating apps, or breakups, or just a bad date, stuff like that."
Franco also addressed why he stayed silent for years, saying: "There were people that were upset with me...and I needed to listen."
He explained: "What that doesn’t do is allow you to do the work and to look at what was underneath. Whatever you did…there’s probably an iceberg underneath that of behavior, of patterning, of just being blind to yourself that isn’t going to just be solved overnight.
"So, I’ve just been doing a lot of work and I’m pretty confident in saying, [it’s been] four years… I’ve really used my recovery background to start examining this and changing who I was," he added.
While he said he never intended "to hurt people," he acknowledged his behavior escalated to a point where he was "hurting everybody." That included Rogen, who has said he has no plans to work with Franco again.
"I just want to say, I absolutely love Seth Rogen… He was my absolute closest work friend, collaborator, and we just gelled, and what he said is true. We aren’t working together right now, and we don’t have any plans to work together," he said.
"Because I was silent, he had to answer for me, and I don’t want that. That’s one of the main reasons I wanted to talk to you today, is I just don’t want Seth or my brother or anyone to have to answer for me anymore," he concluded.
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