New York Times cancels James Franco event amid allegations of sexual misconduct

The Times said the event was being cancelled 'given the controversy surrounding recent allegations'

The New York Times has cancelled an event scheduled with James Franco, after the actor was accused of sexual misconduct.

A TimesTalk event was scheduled for Wednesday, intended to feature Franco and his brother and co-star, Dave Franco, sitting down to discuss The Disaster Artist. The Times said in a statement that "given the controversy surrounding recent allegations", it was cancelling the event.

The actor came under fierce criticism for wearing a "Time's Up" pin at this weekend's Golden Globes, with actress Violet Paley and filmmaker Sarah Tither-Kaplan accusing Franco of sexual misconduct on Twitter.

"Cute #TIMESUP pin James Franco," Paley wrote. "Remember the time you pushed my head down in a car towards your exposed penis & that other time you told my friend to come to your hotel when she was 17? After you had already been caught doing that to a different 17 year old?”

Actress Ally Sheedy also posted in now-deleted tweets that, "James Franco just won. Please never ask me why I left the film/tv business." The two worked together on the 2014 off-Broadway production of The Long Shrift.

While appearing on The Late Show, Franco was questioned about the allegations by host Stephen Colbert, stating that he hadn't read the accusations on Twitter but had heard them. In response to Sheedy's tweet, he stated: "I have no idea what I did to Ally Sheedy. I had nothing but a great time with her. I have total respect for her."

In regard to the other accusations, he said, "In my life, I pride myself in taking responsibility for things I’ve done. I have to do that to maintain my well-being. I do it whenever I know that there's something wrong or needs to be changed. I make it a point to do it." He added that the allegations made on Twitter were "not accurate".

"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. I think it’s a good thing and I support it," he added.

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