James Franco’s acclaimed performance in The Disaster Artist failed to land him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor after he was accused of sexual misconduct.
James, who plays hapless filmmaker Tommy Wiseau in the movie, was tipped to land his second Academy Awards nod after winning the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy earlier this month (Jan18).
However, his chance of awards season success began to unravel swiftly after the ceremony when three women came forward to accuse him of inappropriate behavior. Two more have subsequently made allegations against the actor. He has denied all accusations.
The actor was first called out on social media about his alleged behavior during the Golden Globes ceremony on 7 January, five days before voting for Oscar nominees closed.
James, who also directed The Disaster Artist, attracted criticism from Twitter users including The Breakfast Club star Ally Sheedy, for wearing a Time’s Up pin supporting the campaign to end sexual assault and harassment to the Globes.
And on Saturday (20Jan18), Scarlett Johansson told him she wanted her pin back during a rousing speech at the Women’s March in Los Angeles.
In an interview with late night host Stephen Colbert, James said his accusers’ claims were “not accurate” but added he would not aggressively refute them due to his support for the Time’s Up initiative.
The 2018 Oscars nominations were announced on Tuesday, with Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Timothee Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name), Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread) and Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.) battling it out to win the Best Actor prize on 4 March (18).
