(WGN) – Actor James Franco is breaking his silence about the sexual misconduct allegations made about him.
Last summer, Franco, 43, settled a lawsuit filed by two women who were his former acting students, claiming that he abused his power by exploiting them under the guise of giving them opportunities.
Franco has kept quiet until recently, when he discussed it on “The Jess Cagle Podcast” on SiriusXM. He admitted to sleeping with students, but said that wasn’t his plan.
Franco said he initially believed his actions were fine, telling Cagle that he felt it was a “consensual thing” between him and the students.
“Over the course of my teaching, I did sleep with students, and that was wrong. But like I said, it’s not why I started the school and I didn’t, I wasn’t the person that selected the people to be in the class. So it wasn’t a master plan on my part. But yes, there were certain instances where, you know what, I was in a consensual thing with a student and I shouldn’t have been,” Franco said.
Franco then admitted to struggling with sex addiction and alcoholism for years. He said he’s talking about this now so his brother, actor Dave Franco, does not have to speak for him.