James Franco lawyers hit back at #MeToo lawsuit, call former students 'attention-hungry'

James Franco is firing back against an October lawsuit in which two of his former acting students accused him of sexual misconduct.

The plaintiffs, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, accused Franco and his partners of "sexualizing their power as a teacher and an employer by dangling the opportunity for roles in their projects." On Friday, the actor's legal team filed a demurrer in Los Angeles Superior Court calling for the dismissal of three causes of action against their client.

In the demurrer, obtained by USA TODAY, Franco's lawyers Debra Ellwood Meppen, Laurie DeYoung and Gene F. Williams praise the #MeToo and Time's Up movements, but slam the women's lawsuit as "a travesty of justice."

They assert the "salacious allegations" in the lawsuit "have made great tabloid fodder, but like most tabloid stories, they are false and inflammatory, legally baseless and brought as a class action with the obvious goal of grabbing as much publicity as possible for attention-hungry Plaintiffs."

The demurrer includes several alleged tweets from Tither-Kaplan, where she praises the actor and his now-closed acting school, Studio 4.

"Now, after failing to achieve any significant professional success, over half a decade later, she claims she was mistreated," the document adds.

In a statement to USA TODAY, the plaintiffs' attorney James Vagnini said Franco's "aggressive effort to position himself as the victim and smear the reputation of the survivors who have come forward is, unfortunately, a tactic commonly used by perpetrators of wrong-doing."

'It is one of the many reasons that so many survivors are still afraid to speak publicly about their experiences," he continued, adding that Franco's claims are "without merit."

"We are confident that, as we work through the legal process and hear from numerous other witnesses and survivors, we will achieve full justice for the women who have experienced abuse and exploitation at the hands of Mr. Franco and his associates," he said. 

USA TODAY has reached out to Franco's attorneys for comment.

Franco previously denied Tither-Kaplan and Gaal's allegations. In the demurrer, Franco's lawyers also deny other accusations against the actor, including that he made prospective students audition for him nude, that he promised students acting opportunities if they appeared nude and that he used student films in which they appeared nude for his own enjoyment.

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Franco opened Studio 4 in Los Angeles in 2014 with his business partner, Vince Jolivette, Jolivette was also named in the complaint, in addition to Franco's production company Rabbit Bandini Productions. The school closed in 2017.

The women's lawsuit claims Franco intimidated student actors into performing sex scenes in an "orgy type setting," all while promising "false hopes of acquiring job opportunities."

"The reality was that (Franco) was looking to create a pipeline of young women who were subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation," their lawsuit added. 

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The situations described in the suit allegedly arose during a master class that Franco taught at the school. The lawsuit alleges that to take Franco’s master class, students had to audition by simulating sex acts on film, which he watched to choose candidates.

It says the class began with "encouraging female student actors to appear topless, then perform in sex scenes, then orgies and gratuitous full nudity," without the careful guidelines and closed sets that are the industry standard for shooting sex scenes.

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The suit further alleges that Gaal was kept out of the master class for questioning its exploitative nature.

Tither-Kaplan took the class and was subsequently cast in Rabbit Bandini films, “which she now recognizes was a direct result of her willingness to accept Franco’s exploitative behavior without complaint.”

In 2018, the Los Angeles Times reported sexual misconduct allegations against the actor from five women, including Tither-Kaplan, who also took her accusations to Twitter. Franco had also received backlash for wearing a Time's Up pin to the Golden Globes days before the Times published their report.

At the time, Franco responded to the allegations during an appearance on "Late Night with Seth Meyers." 

"I did read them, I haven't responded," Franco said. "I think the ones I read were not accurate, but one of the things that I've learned is that this is a conversation that needs to be had. There are people and women and others that have not been a part of this conversation, and I truly believe — and (it's) why I was wearing the pin — is that they need to be a part of this conversation. So I support them."

Stephen Colbert also asked Franco about the allegations during his 2018 appearance on the "Late Show."

"In my life, I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I’ve done," he said. "The things I heard that were on Twitter are not accurate, but I 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, I think, a good thing, and I support it."

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Franco's attorney, Michael Plonsker, disputed all of the women's claims to the Los Angeles Times. Representatives for Franco pointed to his comments to Meyers and Colbert as his official statements at the time.

According to Franco's demurrer, the women's claims also have no legal standing, as three of the students' accusations allegedly occurred more than six years ago, which makes them barred by statutes of limitations. Sex discrimination, sexual harassment and interference with the exercise of civil right are governed by two-year statutes of limitations according to the document.

Contributing: Cydney Henderson, Maeve McDermott