On Thursday, a lawsuit was filed against James Franco by two of his former acting students. The suit alleges that Franco’s now-closed acting school, Studio 4, was operating primarily to take advantage of young, unsuspecting actors both financially and sexually.
Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal filed the suit against Franco in the Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday. The two women claim that Franco and his associates “engaged in widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behavior towards female students by sexualizing their power as a teacher and an employer by dangling the opportunity for roles in their projects.”
Studio 4 was opened by Franco and Vince Jolivette in 2014 with branches in L.A. and New York City. According to the suit, students would pay $300 a month in tuition to attend the school. However, as the women claim, the school was anything but a serious establishment. Allegedly, students who were willing to expose themselves as part of Franco’s “masterclass” on sex scenes were given special treatment.
In blunt terms, the suit claims that “Studio 4 served no other legitimate purposes other than to dupe unsuspecting and often very young ‘students’ out of their money and talent to serve Defendants’ financial and exploitative desires.”
Tither-Kaplan was one of five women who previously accused Franco of sexual misconduct in early 2018. She and Gaal’s lawyers are searching for more students to come forward as part of the suit. The suit is looking to establish two cases against Franco; one based on the allegations of sexual exploitation and one based on the allegations of fraud.
Franco is currently starring in the final season of The Deuce on HBO.
