Seth Rogen Has Curt Response When Asked About Ending His James Franco Friendship

“I absorb so little media that it really wasn’t on my radar,” said Rogen

Seth Rogen and James Franco
(L-R) Seth Rogen, James Franco. Photo: Mike Marsland/WireImage; Ernesto Ruscio/Getty

Seth Rogen prefers not to speak about his past friendship with James Franco.

Four months after Franco, 46, told Variety at the Rome Film Festival that he believed their friendship had run its course, Rogen, 42, shared his take on Franco’s comments in a new cover story interview with Esquire.

“Honestly, I absorb so little media that it really wasn’t on my radar,” Rogen told the outlet when asked how he felt “to have something so personal become so public.”

According to the outlet, Rogen was “clearly not surprised to get the question,” but he was “just as clearly not happy about it.”

Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen attends the Cinespia special screening of Prime Video’s “Sausage Party: Foodtopia” at Hollywood Forever on July 10, 2024.Frazer Harrison/Getty

“That is all he wants to say about that,” Esquire reported.

Rogen and Franco had a longstanding friendship and professional relationship that began when they worked together on the 1999 show Freaks and Geeks early in their careers.

They then collaborated on various other projects, including Knocked Up (2007), Pineapple Express (2008), This Is the End (2013), The Interview (2014), Sausage Party (2016) and The Disaster Artist (2017).

Things seemingly changed in 2018, however, when five women, four of whom were his acting students, accused Franco of sexually inappropriate behavior in a Los Angeles Times article.

Seth Rogen (L) and James Franco arrive at the Columbia Pictures screening of "Pineapple Express" presented by Three Olives at the AMC Loews 19th Street August 5, 2008 in New York City.
Seth Rogen (L) and James Franco arrive at the Columbia Pictures screening of “Pineapple Express” presented by Three Olives at the AMC Loews 19th Street August 5, 2008.Bryan Bedder/Getty

Two of the four former students proceeded to file a sexual misconduct lawsuit against Franco in 2019, which was settled in 2021.

That same year, Rogen publicly distanced himself from Franco, telling The Sunday Times “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.”

When asked if the allegations made against Franco affected their friendship, Rogen told the outlet, “I’d say yes.”

James Franco (L) and Seth Rogen celebrate The 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards with Moet & Chandon at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 7, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California.
James Franco and Seth Rogen at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 7, 2018.Michael Kovac/Getty

“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,” said Rogen.

Franco confirmed in his October 2024 conversation with Variety that the two hadn’t kept in touch.

“I haven’t talked to Seth. I love Seth, we had 20 great years together, but I guess it’s over,” said Franco. “And not for lack of trying. I’ve told him how much he’s meant to me.”

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.