Seth Rogen is weighing in on his friendship with James Franco after his former friend revealed their relationship had ended.
In a new interview, Apple TV+’s The Studio star said he doesn’t pay much attention to social media buzz around him.
“Honestly, I absorb so little media that it really wasn’t on my radar,” Rogen told Esquire about Franco’s comments on their friendship.
According to the publication, Rogen was “not surprised to get that question, and he’s clearly not happy about it.” The magazine also noted his response was “all he wants to say about that.”
Rogen and Franco got their start in the business by starring on the NBC series Freaks and Geeks. They would go on to star in films like Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, This Is The End, The Interview, Sausage Party and The Disaster Artist.
However, things took a turn when, in 2018, multiple women accused Franco of inappropriate sexual behaviour. More accusations would become public, including one that he eventually settled, where the actor was accused of intimidating students into gratuitous and exploitative sexual situations.
In an interview with Variety in 2024, Franco said he and Rogen were no longer friends.
“No. I haven’t talked to Seth. I love Seth, we had 20 great years together, but I guess it’s over,” Franco told the publication. “And not for lack of trying. I’ve told him how much he’s meant to me.”
Rogen had initially supported his friend, but he distanced himself from Franco as more accusations came up. In 2021, Rogen told The Times, “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.”
Although at the time Rogen didn’t say his relationship with Franco had ended, Rogen did say “it is not a coincidence” that their friendship changed amid the accusations.
“I don’t know if I can define that right now during this interview. I can say it, um, you know, it has changed many things in our relationship and our dynamic,” Rogen said about his relationship with Franco.
