Why Seth Rogen and James Franco ended their 25-year friendship

As two of comedy’s most famous talents, Seth Rogen and James Franco it has had a long history of divisiveness and collaboration. However, it all ended in 2018.

The Pineapple Express PLAYERS they first worked together on the 1999 show Freaks and Geeks when they were both just starting out in Hollywood. Since then, the two have become a dynamic duo starring together in hit comedies since 2007 Knocked Up until 2017 The disaster artist.

However, in 2018, five women, four of whom were acting students, accused Franco of inappropriate sexual behavior One Los Angeles Times article. The following year, two of the four former students proceeded files a sexual misconduct lawsuit against the actor, which he established two years later.

The allegations seemed to create a rift between Franco and his longtime friend, Rogen said The Sunday Times in May 2021 that he had no future plans to work with Franco.

“What I can say is that I despise abuse and harassment and I would never cover up or hide the actions of someone who does it or put anyone in a situation where they would be around someone like that,” Rogen said.

Three years later, Franco admitted Variety in October 2024 that his the friendship with Rogen was never repaired.

“I haven’t spoken to Seth. I love Seth, we had a great 20 years together, but I think it’s over,” he said.

So what happened between Seth Rogen and James Franco? Here’s everything you need to know about why their 25-year friendship ended.

How did Rogen and Franco’s friendship begin?

Rogen and Franco first met on the set of Freaks and Geeks when Rogen was 17 and Franco was 22. The two didn’t work together for a while after that until they reunited for 2008. Pineapple ExpressRogen admitted to CBS The early show.

“We didn’t have any fights or anything like that; only had great success after Freaks and Geeks, and I sat on my couch and researched this movie for two years,” he joked, referring to the film’s story of two stoners.

Since then, the two collaborated on the 2013 one This Is The End2014 interview2016 Sausage party and from 2017 The disaster artist.

“I generally have a movie with a Franco here almost every year, culminating this year with two Francos,” Rogen said. SXSW at the 2017 festival alongside Franco and his brother Dave Francowho also played The disaster artist.

When it came to how far the two would go to engage in their comedy, Franco and Rogen admitted in a Q&A with Moviefone that they were comfortable enough with each other to be open to anything that brought laughter.

“I think the lesson you taught me is that if it’s funny, you can do anything,” Franco said.

Why was Franco accused?

2018 Golden Globe Awards, where the duo were nominated for their work in directing and producing The disaster artistit marked the last time Franco and Rogen were photographed together in public.

In the days following the performance, Franco was accused of sexual misconduct by five women, four of whom were students. The women alleged in a Los Angeles Times article that the actor abused his power as a professor at the film school he founded to manipulate them into performing inappropriate acts, including removing security while filming an oral sex scene.

“I realized pretty quickly that, OK, you don’t say no to this guy,” said one of the women, Sarah Tither-Kaplan. “I feel like there’s been an abuse of power and there’s been a culture of exploiting non-celebrity women and a culture of replaceable women.”

Franco’s attorney denied each of the allegations at the time, citing Franco’s appearance at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert earlier that week he addressed the allegations as a formal denial.

However, over a year later, in October 2019, Tither-Kaplan and another woman, Toni Gaal, filed a lawsuit against Franco, alleging that he “engaged in inappropriate and sexually charged behavior on the scale broad against female students,” according to the lawsuit.

Franco once again denied the allegations, and in February 2021, he reached a settlement with the women in which he agreed to pay $2,235,000.

Why did Rogen say he would never work with Franco again?

When Franco was first accused, Rogen said that he would continue to work with the actor in an April 2018 interview with Vulture.

“The truth is, my perspective on this is the least relevant,” he said. “I’m friends with these people and I’m a guy. All of that combined makes me the last person who should be talking about it.”

However, three years later, Rogen walked back his comments and even admitted that he regretted what he said, as well as a 2014 joke about Saturday Night Live in which he said he decided to prank Franco by posing with the girl on Instagram and telling him he was “pretty young.”

“I look back on a joke I made Saturday Night Live in 2014 and I really regret making that joke,” Rogen said The Sunday Times. “It was a terrible joke, honestly. And I’m also watching that 2018 interview where I comment that I will continue to work with Jamesand the truth is I haven’t and don’t plan to now. ”

He added that it was “not a coincidence” that his professional relationship with Franco had ended and added that the situation had also affected his personal relationship.

“I don’t know if I can define it right now during this interview,” he said of their friendship. “I can say it, you know, it changed a lot of things in our relationship and our dynamic.”

How did Franco respond to the end of their friendship?

Later that year, Franco appeared on SiriusXM radio where she admitted that she still “loves” Rogen and that the two haven’t fought in the 20 years they’ve worked together.

“He was my closest work friend, collaborator, we just gelled,” Franco said. “What he said is true – we don’t work together and we have no plans to work together.”

The actor said that while it was “painful” to hear Rogen say their professional relationship was over, he understood because he “had to answer for me because I kept quiet.”

In an October 2024 interview with VarietyFranco shared an update that the status of his friendship with Rogen had not changed, and the pair’s relationship seemed beyond repair.

“And not for lack of trying,” he said. — I told him how much he meant to me.