The Real Reason James Franco Was Arrested

For a fleeting few years in the late aughts and early 2010s, it seemed actor James Franco would somehow become a one-man paradigm shift when it came to the definition of "renaissance man." Franco, who truly gained national attention as the beleaguered billionaire's son Harry Osborn in the original Marvel "Spider-Man" trilogy, emerged as Hollywood's hottest (and most ambitious) commodity. Despite his workload as an A-list actor, Franco threw himself into a seemingly endless roster of highly regarded post-graduate programs, which included MFA degrees at Columbia University, Brooklyn College, and New York University. (As of this report, Franco only completed one program at Columbia.) Aside from acting, Franco also published a book of short stories, titled "Palo Alto," and directed a slew of films, two of which were adaptations of novels by author William Faulkner, per IMDb. (There's a fair chance that, without Franco, Shia LaBeouf might never have embarked on his much-maligned career in performance art, so take that for what you will.)

But despite Franco's reputation as an aspiring multi-hyphenate, it seems his notoriety has, in so many words, revealed itself to be less than sterling. Indeed, he's had at least one run-in with the law in the technical sense — and years later, was embroiled in another scandal which skirted the legal line, to say the very least. So what's the deal here? 

As James Franco disclosed in a 2015 project collaboration between Google Play and California Sunday magazine (via People), the actor's teenage years, which he spent in NorCal's Palo Alto, were filled with a variety of youthful indiscretions, enough among them to get Franco into some serious trouble. As Franco recalled in the short film entry Franco contributed to the "California Inspires Me" series, Franco's aimless early years were the fount for his less-than-stellar behavior. "By the time I got to high school I didn't have a 'thing,'" Franco recounted, "so I ended up just getting into a lot of trouble." Activities included ones that would most likely spring to mind for juvenile offenses, like a preoccupation with graffiti, which Franco said got him in trouble with local authorities at least once. But at least one criminal endeavor had some more wide-reaching consequences. The racket? A bona-fide black market cologne ring.

According to Franco, he and his friends started "stealing cologne" in eighth grade in order to sell it at school for a profit. "We had like thirty bottles of cologne each in our lockers at school and then we could sell cologne at the dances," the actor recalled. Eventually, per Franco, he was arrested for shoplifting after their unseemly activities were reported to the police. "It was like a big bust," he concluded.

In his 2015 short animated film for the "California Inspires Me" series (via People), James Franco stated that the consequences of the wayward indiscretions of his youth helped Franco discover his purpose. Describing these consequences as a "wake-up call," Franco eventually found a calling in acting, and landed his big break in the Judd Apatow cult classic TV show "Freaks and Geeks" after dropping out of his undergraduate acting program at UCLA. 

But despite the origin story Franco has touted over the years, it hasn't been the only time Franco has found himself under scrutiny regarding the law (or even ethics, in general). As Insider reported in 2014, Instagram DMs between Franco and a Scottish teenager surfaced in which Franco, then 35, allegedly propositioned the then-17-year-old. Though the exchange was technically legal — in New York, the state in which it took place, the age of consent is 17 — other women who came forward shared similar stories of Franco's purportedly predator-like behavior. 

In 2019, two women who were once enrolled in Franco's now-defunct acting school brought a lawsuit against the actor for "widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behavior towards female students." Both stated the program was a front for taking advantage of female students, per The New York Times. The lawsuit was settled in 2021 (per NPR). In December 2021, Franco admitted to sleeping with students in his program, but said they were consensual and blamed it on an addiction to sex.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).