At last night’s Critics Choice Awards, James Franco won the award for best actor for his performance in The Disaster Artist, a film that he also wrote and directed.
That title has taken on added meaning this week, as the award season that should have been the peak of Franco’s long career in Hollywood has instead been one long catastrophe for the actor and filmmaker.
Of course, if there’s any truth to the allegations against him, then Franco has no one to blame for this precipitous downfall but himself.
The unraveling of Franco’s career and carefully-cultivated image as the heir apparent to Johnny Depp’s “eccentric but lovable artsy weirdo” image began on Sunday night when the 39-year-old took home one of the night’s biggest prizes at the 2018 Golden Globes.
During the ceremony, actress Ally Sheedy posted a series of tweets implying that Franco had behaved inappropriately while directing her in a 2014 Off-Broadway play.
Sheedy later deleted the tweets, but her example prompted other women who claim to have been mistreated by Franco to come forward with their own stories.
Now, less than a week after the actor kicked off what looked to be a dominant award season run, no fewer than five women have accused Franco of sexual misconduct.
The allegations run the gamut from coercing a young woman into performing oral sex to becoming angry when actresses filming a scene in a strip club refused to perform topless.
Franco sat for interviews with both Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers this week, explaining to both hosts that he denies the allegations against him, but supports the right of his accusers to go public with their version of events.
At first, it looked as though Franco would continue making the media rounds in order to improve his film’s chances with Oscar voters.
Last night, however, the actor skipped the Critics Choice ceremony, and actor Walton Goggins accepted the best actor award on his behalf.
“He’s in a really bad place, so bad that he changed his phone number,” a source close to the situation tells People magazine.
“His close friends are trying to be there for him but it’s been hard – he’s only talking to a select group of people. For now, he’s just hiding out.”
Speaking with Meyers on Tuesday night, Franco stated that he’s refrained from actively defending himself so as not to discourage women who have been abused or suffered unfair treatment from coming forward.
“There are people that need to be heard,” the actor said.
“I have my own side of this story, but I believe in these people that have been underrepresented getting their stories out enough that I will hold back things that I could say, just because I believe in it that much.”
He added:
“So if I have to take a knock because I’m not going to try and actively refute things, then I will, because I believe in it that much.”
We will further updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.