On Tuesday night, Stephen Colbert did not shy away from asking his guest James Franco about recent misconduct allegations. Two nights before, shortly after The Disaster Artist filmmaker accepted his Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, multiple women came forward on Twitter with accusations about Franco. In a series of since-deleted tweets, Ally Sheedy, who Franco once directed in an Off Broadway production of The Long Shrift, wrote, “James Franco just won. Please never ask me why I left the film/TV business.â€
On The Late Show, Franco told Colbert that he was aware of the tweets, but that the accusations were “not accurate.†“I have no idea what I did to Ally Sheedy,†Franco said. “I directed her in a play Off Broadway. I had nothing but a great time with her, a total respect for her. I have no idea why she was upset.†He continued:
The others, look, in my life I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I have done. I have to do that to maintain my well-being. I do it whenever I know that there’s something that’s wrong that needs to be changed. The things that I’ve heard that were on Twitter are not accurate, but I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice, because they didn’t have a voice for so long. I don’t want to shut them down in any way. I think it’s a good thing and I support it.
Colbert continued the interview by asking Franco if there was a way that the actor might be able to reconcile his recollection with that of the accusers. Colbert asked, “In your case, you say this was not an accurate thing for me. Do you have any idea of what the answer might be to come to some sense of what the truth is so there can be some kind of reconciliation between two people who clearly have a different view of things?â€
After starting and stopping a few times, Franco responded, “If there’s restitution to be made, I will make it. If I’ve done something wrong, I will fix it.â€
On Tuesday, the New York Times decided to cancel a TimesTalk event with Franco. The Times said in statement, “The event was intended to be a discussion of the making of the film, The Disaster Artist. Given the controversy surrounding recent allegations, we’re no longer comfortable proceeding in that vein.â€