Hollywood actor James Franco will pay US$2.2 million to settle sexual exploitation suit
- Two former students had accused Franco in 2019 of sex discrimination, sexual harassment, fraudulent business practices and intimidation
- The lawsuit alleged that Franco’s Studio 4 acting and filmmaking school was a set-up to sexually and professionally exploit women
Hollywood actor James Franco will pay more than US$2.2 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by two former students at his acting school, pending court approval, according to court documents filed last week and made public on Wednesday.
This comes after news in February that a deal had been reached.
A total of US$2,235,000 is proposed to be split as follows, according to the documents filed on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court: US$894,000 to settle sexual exploitation claims and US$1,341,000 to a common fund to settle the fraud claims. The defendants are admitting no liability.
In return, the named plaintiffs, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, are agreeing to release their individual claims against Franco, without prejudice. If the settlement is approved, Tither-Kaplan would get US$670,500 minus US$223,500 that will go to lawyers; Gaal would get US$223,500 minus US$74,500 to the lawyers.
The fraud class will be divided into those who paid tuition for Master Class courses and those who paid for any classes at Studio 4 Film School in New York or Los Angeles between February 2014 and the date the preliminary approval order is filed. They will each get a share of US$827,045, which is the amount that will remain in the common fund after lawyers fees and administrative costs.
In their October 2019 lawsuit, former students Tither-Kaplan and Gaal had accused the Oscar-nominated actor – along with business partner Vince Jolivette, Rabbit Bandini Productions and the production company’s general manager, Jay Davis – of sex discrimination, sexual harassment, fraudulent business practices and intimidation, among other things.