By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Normally, we don’t care that much about the personal lives of celebrities…after all, who someone is hanging out with will always be far less interesting than whether or not they are making the kinds of movies and shows that we love. Ironically, that’s exactly why we care about the friendship between James Franco and Seth Rogen, as their real-life camaraderie has led to some hilarious movies like Pineapple Express. It looks like that has officially come to an end, though, with Franco recently proclaiming, “we had 20 great years together, but I guess it’s over.”
Seth Rogen Cut Ties In 2021
Of course, those who have been keeping close track of the relationship between James Franco and Seth Rogen would likely consider this old news. Back in 2021, Rogen confirmed that he had no plans to work with Franco anymore after the latter was sued for alleged sexual misconduct toward some of his acting students.
Still, some fans of both actors hoped they might still be friends, but Franco has confirmed that their mutual friendship is now just as dead as the chances of future collaborations.
To highlight what happened to the powerful friendship between James Franco and Seth Rogen, we need to take things all the way back to 2019. That’s when Franco was sued by two of his former acting students for sexual misconduct. The lawsuit eventually culminated in a settlement in which Franco paid $2.235 million to his accusers.
When James Franco was sued back in 2019, Seth Rogen didn’t make any firm announcements regarding their future collaborations. After the settlement, though, Rogen was blunt about their business relationship in a 2021 interview with The Sunday Times. “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.”
Rogen’s Regrets
The more he discussed what happened with James Franco, the more introspective Seth Rogen seemed to get about his own career and the things he said in the past. For example, he said he regrets previously making a joke on Saturday Night Live about a 2014 incident where 35-year-old Franco was busted for texting a 17-year-old girl and trying to lure her to his hotel room.
Rogen also regrets previously stating in 2018 that he would continue to work with Franco despite the various #TimesUp allegations about him, including the earliest rumors of sexual misconduct with his acting students.
In other words, we’ve known that James Franco and Seth Rogen wouldn’t be collaborating on anything else since 2021, but hope sprung eternal for some fans that they might patch things up.
Now, though, Franco has clarified that they never speak to one another and that this wasn’t “for lack of trying” because “I’ve told him how much he’s meant to me.” The deterioration of their friendship is understandable, but it’s still hard to see for those of us who loved their collaborations like Freaks and Geeks and Pineapple Express.
James Franco Today
As for fans of James Franco in particular, here’s some good news: he hasn’t let the disintegration of his friendship with Seth Rogen stall his own career. He just recently debuted his new film Hey Joe at the Rome Film Festival and is hopeful to get his career back on track. With any luck, The Disaster Artist will remain simply the name of one of his films rather than the defining statement of his controversial legacy.
Source: People
