Busy Philipps is sharing her thoughts on Seth Rogen alluding to his professional split with longtime friend and collaborator James Franco.
Just last month, Rogen revealed that he has ‘no plans’ on working with Franco again amid several sexual misconduct allegations dating back to 2014, admitting the accusations had ‘changed many things’ in their relationship.
In a new interview, Philipps said she ‘guessed’ she was surprised by his comments, before revealing she could only speak about the ‘horrible behavior’ she experienced with Franco more than 20 years ago.
Her take: Busy Philipps is speaking out about Seth Rogen hinting that he has ended his professional relationship with longtime friend James Franco, amid several sexual misconduct allegations against him dating back to 2014
‘I have to say, I mean, it’s interesting. They were super close, and they had a very tight relationship. And so I don’t have any information,’ Philipps confessed during a recent appearance on The Daily Beast’s The Last Laugh podcast.
Fans may recall, Philipps, Rogen and Franco all starred together in the cult favorite TV series Freaks And Geeks, which ran for one season back in 1999.
‘I haven’t spent my days doing deep dives into what it all was. I didn’t work with James past age 20, so I can only speak to the horrible behavior I experienced.’
In her 2018 memoir, This Will Only Hurt a Little, shared about how Franco pushed her to the ground while on set of Freaks And Geeks, and that he was forced to apologize to her by the show’s producer and director.
Philipps, Franco and Rogen starred together for the one season of the TV series Freaks And Geeks in 1999; Philipps is pictured on the set standing next to Franco along with Jason Segel, Rogen, Bill Haverchuck, Sam Weir, Neal Schweiber, Linda Cardellini
Her own horror story: ‘I haven’t spent my days doing deep dives into what it all was. I didn’t work with James past age 20, so I can only speak to the horrible behavior I experienced,’ Philipps said in interview
While the former Busy Tonight talk show host wouldn’t ‘speculate’ about Rogen and Franco’s friendship, the actress did add that she ‘wouldn’t want to work with someone who has multiple allegations of predatory behavior.’
The Illinois native also stopped short of saying whether the #MeToo movement had actually changed Hollywood.
‘I think at this point, I’m not at risk. I’m an almost-42-year-old woman who wrote a book where I named names of the people who were f***ing d**ks to me,’ she said.
‘So I don’t think that I’m the person to ask about whether the industry has changed. Because I would assume that people are going to be smart enough to not f**k with me.’
‘What I can say is that I despise abuse and harassment and I would never cover or conceal the actions of someone doing it, or knowingly put someone in a situation where they were around someone like that,’ Rogen, 39, revealed in May
His own regrets: Rogen said he was filled with regret but acknowledged his situation was ‘not as painful and difficult as it is for a lot of other people involved,’ adding, ‘I have no pity for myself in this situation’
Speaking with The Sunday Times in May, Rogen, distanced himself from Franco when he was asked about the validity of the charges.
‘What I can say is that I despise abuse and harassment and I would never cover or conceal the actions of someone doing it, or knowingly put someone in a situation where they were around someone like that,’ the 39-year-old actor said, adding that it was ‘not a coincidence’ he hasn’t worked with Franco in recent years.
He proceeded to reference a regrettable scenario of his own, when he made a joke on Saturday Night Live in 2014 that he now calls, ‘a terrible joke, honestly.’
Rogen said in the monologue: ‘I decided to prank James Franco. I posed as a girl on Instagram, told him I was way young. He seemed unfazed. I have a date to meet him at the Ace Hotel.’
The punchline was in relation to a 17-year-old girl who accused Franco of reaching out to her on Instagram to meet up when he was 35.
Longtime friends and collaborators: Among the projects Rogen and Franco have worked on together include The Interview in 2014, as well as Pineapple Express, This Is The End and The Disaster Artist
That 17-year-old girl posted screenshots of alleged messages between her and Franco on Instagram, which he would later admit were from him when he was a guest on Live! With Kelly and Michael.
It turn out Franco’s action did not break New York law because the age of consent in the state is 17.
In the interview with the newspaper, Rogen shared about some other insensitive comments he himself has made regarding his collaboration with Franco.
‘I also look back to that interview in 2018 where I comment that I would keep working with James, and the truth is that I have not and I do not plan to right now,’ he said. ‘I don’t know if I can define that [our friendship] right now during this interview.
‘I can say it, um, you know, it has changed many things in our relationship and our dynamic.’
His stance: Franco has previously called some allegations inaccurate and that he ‘completely supports people coming out and being able to have a voice’ in regards to misconduct
Rogen said that he was filled with regret but acknowledged his situation was ‘not as painful and difficult as it is for a lot of other people involved,’ adding, ‘I have no pity for myself in this situation.’
Just this past February, Franco settled a 2019 suit with two women who were students of his former acting school Studio 4, who alleged the program ‘was little more than a scheme to provide him and his male collaborators with a pool of young female performers that they could take advantage of.’
While appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2018, Franco said of the accusations, on Twitter, were not accurate, and that he ‘completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice because they didn’t have a voice for so long. So, I don’t want to shut them down in any way. It’s a good thing and I support it.’
Along with the NBC Cult classic Freaks And Geeks, Rogen and Franco worked together on such projects as Pineapple Express, This Is The End, The Disaster Artist, and The Interview.