Seth Rogen says he doesn't plan to work with James Franco again

Last month, Charlyne Yi called out Seth Rogen on Instagram saying that she raised concerns to Rogen after he continued to work with James Franco on The Disaster Artist even though multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. But her efforts were futile—Rogen instead allegedly bribed her with a larger part in the film so she wouldn’t quit. “They minimized and said Franco being a predator was so last year, and that he changed…when I literally heard of him abusing new women that week,” Yi wrote. Rogen hadn’t responded to Yi’s accusations, but in an interview with The Sunday Times, he broke his silence on Yi’s statement.

When writer Decca Aitkenhead asked point blank if Rogen agreed that he had enabled Franco, he responded saying, “What I can say is that I despise abuse and harassment and I would never cover or conceal the actions of someone doing it, or knowingly put someone in a situation where they were around someone like that.” He also addressed the joke he made on SNL in 2014 after Franco had propositioned a minor on Instagram. During his opening monologue, he said that he had “pranked” Franco by pretending to be a teenage girl and his Pineapple Express co-star seemed “unfazed” by the age.

“I do look back at a joke I made on Saturday Night Live in 2014 and I very much regret making that joke. It was a terrible joke, honestly. And I also look back to that interview in 2018 where I comment that I would keep working with James, and the truth is that I have not and I do not plan to right now,” admitted Rogen. He also confirmed that it’s no coincidence the pair—who’ve worked on numerous projects together since meeting on the Freaks And Geeks set in 1999—haven’t collaborated in years.