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Throughout Hollywood history, there have been many examples of celebrity siblings who’ve taken Hollywood by storm. In almost all of those cases, the actors have been happy to be associated with one another. In fact, there are actors like John and Joan Cusack or Shawn and Marlon Wayans who seem to go out of their way to find opportunities to work together. Unfortunately, however, there have been times when famous actor siblings obviously wanted to distance themselves from one another.
Several years after James Franco rose to fame in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, his little brother Dave began to build a successful acting career for himself. Eventually, Dave and James both became a big deal in Hollywood and both of them spoke about the other with pride and humor during this era. Then, several women came forward with serious accusations about James. Considering that nobody has accused Dave Franco of misconduct, it is interesting to look at how his career has been impacted by the allegations against James.
Updated on March 8, 2023: James Franco seems to have hit a wall after 2019, with no new productions out (currently) since his animated film Arctic Dogs, though he does have four new titles in various stages of productions. Dave Franco, however, has been working hard.
The younger brother took a two-year break from 2019-2021 before coming back to Hollywood to star in the TV miniseries The Now. Dave then went on to act in the show The Afterparty and the movie Day Shift, with two more upcoming films. It does not seem as though his brother’s allegations have damaged his career too much, as Dave also produced four titles in the last four years, having written two of them.
The Allegations Against James Franco
During the early stages of the 2018 movie awards season, James Franco was netting trophies at every turn due to his starring role in The Disaster Artist. At the same time, Hollywood was being rocked by the MeToo and Time’s Up movements as many famous actors and power brokers were accused of serial abuse. During the 2018 Golden Globe Awards, those two elements came to a head after James wore a Time’s Up pin to protest the harassment and abuse of women.
After he was caught on camera wearing a Time’s Up pin, several women came forward with allegations against James Franco. After Ally Sheedy took to Twitter to ask why James is allowed to attend events like the Golden Globes, Violet Paley, Sarah Tither-Kaplan, Toni Gaal, and other women came forward with serious allegations. Between all the accusations, it was alleged that James forced himself on someone and that he used his school to put women in compromising situations and then took advantage of them.
In the immediate aftermath of the first accusations that came out against him in 2018, James Franco made a previously scheduled appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. During the resulting interview, the actor expressed confusion about Ally Sheedy’s Twitter post and James denied the other allegations against him without getting specific. “The things that I heard that were on Twitter are not accurate.”
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Several months later, two of the women who had accused James Franco of misconduct at his school took the famous actor to court. Additionally, a second class-action lawsuit was brought against James. Ultimately, both lawsuits were settled in February 2021 with James agreeing to pay $2.2 million combined. Despite the payout, James continued to deny the allegations against him in the settlement paperwork.
How Did The Allegations Against James Franco Affect His Brother Dave?
In the five years since James Franco’s career and life were rocked by allegations of misconduct, the actor had almost entirely remained silent. Then, in December 2021, James took part in a long-form interview on The Jess Cagle Show. During that conversation, James was asked about his relationship with his former friend and collaborator Seth Rogen. While addressing that topic, James brought up his brother Dave.
“I don’t want Seth, or my brother, or anyone to have to answer for me anymore.”
Despite James Franco’s comment about his brother in the aforementioned interview, Dave Franco has been able to avoid talking about his brother since the 2018 accusations surfaced. However, if anyone thinks that Dave has not been affected by his brother’s scandals, that does not seem to be the case.
Unfortunately for Dave Franco’s famous wife Alison Brie, she had to address the allegations against James during a 2018 red carpet appearance. While speaking to E! News correspondent Giuliana Rancic, Brie had this to say about the allegations against James, “I think that above all what we’ve always said is that it remains vital that anyone who feels victimized should and does have the right to speak out and come forward. I obviously support my family, and not everything that’s been reported is fully accurate, so I think we’re waiting to get all the information. But of course, now is the time for listening, and that’s what we’re all trying to do.”
Since Alison Brie had no control over James Franco’s past actions, it was unfair that she was forced to answer for him like that. As unfortunately too many people will be able to attest, having your partner being put in a bad situation by a member of your family is a very difficult thing to go through. With that in mind, it seems certain that Dave would have been very upset by how things played out for his wife.
When it comes to Dave Franco’s career, it also seems very likely that it was profoundly affected by the allegations that were levied against his brother. After all, after Dave avoided working with James for years, he decided to co-star with his brother in The Disaster Artist just before the allegations surfaced. Now more closely associated with James than ever, Dave found himself in an extremely uncomfortable situation, just like his wife.
Keeping in mind the situation he was himself in after the allegations against James Franco surfaced, Dave announcing plans to become a director for the first time in 2019 does not seem like a coincidence. Suddenly focused on being behind the camera instead of in the spotlight, Dave has been keeping busy with his Hollywood career. Dave’s directorial career seems to be off to a rousing start with his debut feature The Rental garnering solid reviews. He also has returned to acting after a couple-year hiatus, which means fans will be able to see him on screen for the first time in two years.
