James Franco ‘settles sexual misconduct lawsuit for $2.2million’

James Franco has reached a settlement in his sexual misconduct lawsuit (Picture: Getty)

James Franco is settling his sexual misconduct lawsuit for over $2million (£1.45million), according to reports.

The Deuce actor and his partners at his acting school Playhouse West Studio 4 – which opened in 2014 but closed three years later – were sued in October 2019 by Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal. 

They claimed defendants ‘engaged in widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behaviour towards female students by sexualising their power as a teacher and an employer by dangling the opportunity for roles in their projects’. 

In 2020, Franco alleged the pair were ‘attention-hungry’ and made false and inflammatory’ claims for publicity. 

He has now agreed on a settlement for his two accusers. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Franco has agreed to pay $2.2million (£1.6million) to resolve the lawsuit, and the deal is now being submitted to a Los Angeles judge for approval. 

Franco had allegations made against him in 2019 (Picture: Steve Granitz/WireImage)

They claim that legal paperwork states: ‘Here, Tither-Kaplan is getting $670,500 (£480,000) minus $223,500 (£161,000) less in fees going to the lawyers. Gaal will get $223,500 (£161,600) minus $74,500 (£53,500) to the lawyers. And the other students would get almost two-thirds of the remaining pot of $1.341 (£968,900) with the lawyers total take being around $827,000 (£597,000).’ 

In addition, it has been stated that any unclaimed money will go to the National Women’s Law Center. 

According to the publication, a statement from the settlement reads: ‘While Defendants continue to deny the allegations in the Complaint, they acknowledge that Plaintiffs have raised important issues; and all parties strongly believe that now is a critical time to focus on addressing the mistreatment of women in Hollywood.

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‘All agree on the need to make sure that no one in the entertainment industry — regardless of race, religion, disability, ethnicity, background, gender or sexual orientation — faces discrimination, harassment or prejudice of any kind.’ 

In February, it was previously claimed that Franco had agreed to a settlement in the lawsuit outside of court. 

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