The attorneys for the plaintiffs in the James Franco lawsuit have agreed to settle. Both sides filed a joint status report in February informing the trial judge that a settlement agreement has been reached. Part of the deal is dropping both plaintiffs’ claims against Franco. In this lawsuit, Franco was sued for forcing students to sign over their rights to film a nude and sex scene. The plaintiffs’ attorneys are now preparing to defend the settlement.
Tither-Kaplan and Gaal drop individual claims
Two actresses have dropped their claims against actor James Franco after settling their sexual assault lawsuit. Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal alleged that the actor intimidated them and coerced them into sexual situations while they studied at his Studio 4 acting school. The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Franco manipulated students into believing they would be cast in his films if they performed certain sexual scenes. The two women were allegedly intimidated into participating in these activities by the actor and his staff at the Studio 4 film school.
In exchange for dropping their claims, Franco agreed to pay $670,500 to each student and two lawyers’ fees. The remaining money will be divided among other students who enrolled at Studio 4, but Franco can choose to share it with the rest of them. The settlement will also include a clause that allows other students in the lawsuit to withdraw their claims. This will ensure that all affected students receive fair compensation.
The terms of the settlement have not yet been made public. However, the settlement concludes the claims made by the women. The class-action lawsuit will dismiss the sexual exploitation claims made by the others. In the meantime, a settlement will be finalized for the rest of the claims against Franco. The sexual exploitation claims by the other women involved will be dropped without prejudice, but they will be subject to limited release. As a result of the settlement, Franco has maintained a low profile ever since the case was filed, sticking to self-directed projects like Zeroville and minor voice roles like Arctic Dogs. However, he does have one long-awaited project in the works. The Long Home is a 2015 drama starring Tither-Kaplan.
Franco’s production company was named as the defendants
French actor James Franco is being sued over allegations he sexually assaulted young girls in his school. The allegations, which came to light shortly after the star won the Golden Globe for his role in The Disaster Artist, are not new. In November 2018, he was pictured on stage accepting the award wearing a Time’s Up pin, a movement inspired by Harvey Weinstein’s accusations. In response to the allegations, several women came forward on Twitter. Eventually, the Los Angeles Times published five women’s accounts of sexual misconduct involving the star. The alleged incidents occurred when the star requested that young actresses enroll in the school to have sexual encounters with him.
The suit claims that Franco and his production company were negligent in their responsibilities to the students. Students of the school were allegedly sexually exploited, and Franco coached them to engage in simulated sex acts on film. In addition, he allegedly encouraged students to dress like women who were in his film studio and coached them on how to perform them on the screen. The lawsuit also alleges that the actors were unable to communicate with one another because they were in a private classroom.
In addition to Franco and his production company, Rabbit Bandini, along with French actor James Franciosa, were also named as defendants in the lawsuit. Attorneys for the two sides did not return a message seeking comment. The lawsuit also named Franco’s business partner, Vince Jolivette. The two men had discussed a settlement several months ago. In the meantime, the lawsuit’s progress was put on hold while negotiations took place.
Defendants forced students to sign over rights to explicit nude and sex scene filming
The settlement stipulates that Defendants may produce one modified version of each film, which would meet the strictest network standards. However, Plaintiff argues that Defendants’ proposed edits would ruin the films. Therefore, the Court must determine whether the proposed changes would prevent the films from being broadcast in their current form. In the meantime, the Settlement Agreement will continue to be binding.