A few months ago, I was watching an exchange unfold on friend’s facebook page about pedophile Roy Moore pre-Alabama Senate Race defeat.  One person in particular decided to hop in with his two cents justifying Moore’s behavior stating some of the girls were “legal.” Essentially,  his argument was that it was A-OK for a man in his early 30’s to try and date girls still in high school because they could “legally consent under the law.”  Spoiler alert: It’s not. It’s still creepy and inappropriate, especially for a man in an appointed government position like Moore. Legal does not equal acceptable behavior.
I decided then to share a story of something that happened to me at the ripe old age of 18, maybe give this guy some first hand perspective of what being creeped on by a 30 year old man (in politics) really feels like.  Without going into the full story for time’s sake, I had just graduated from high school and was at a charity golf outing when a politician around the age of 30 cornered me and asked me out on a date. Here was a man, A MAN, not a teenager or college student trying to get me to go out with him. BIG DIFFERENCE. Nothing about this was ok.  It was beyond uncomfortable. It was creepy. It made me sick to my stomach.  I felt intimidated (which doesn’t easily happen with me).   I couldn’t get out of the situation fast enough.  Have you ever had a moment that felt so gross and icky all you wanted to do was take a shower?  This was one of those moments for me.
Was this encounter legal? Yes.  Was it right? HELL NO.
Now fast forward to Sunday night during the Golden Globes.  I happened to catch this exchange between Guardian columnist Jessica Valenti and former MTV News anchor turned Siriusxm True Crimes host Kurt Loder about actor James Franco.  (Note: for context, if you are unfamiliar with the time a 35-year-old James Franco slid into a Scottish teenage girl’s DM’s on Instagram, click here  for the play by play before proceeding).
Jessica kicked it off by tweeting this after Franco’s Best Actor win:

Kurt Loder simultaneously attempts to mansplain and defend Franco’s predatory behavior with:

Jessica retorts with:

And this opens the up the Twitter Voices Of Reason Chorus:

So not to be outdone by Kurt Loder, here is James Franco himself defending his actions toward actress Violet Paley and filmmaker Sarah Tither-Kaplan who recently tweeted about Franco’s sexual misconduct/harassment/assaults/predatory behavior.

UPDATE:
In a new article published by Los Angeles Times, five women have reported that Franco abused his power as an acting teacher and mentor:

“But as he stood on the ballroom stage, some were paying more attention to the Time’s Up pin on his lapel than the gold statue he picked up for his turn in “The Disaster Artist.”

It “was like a slap in my face,” said Sarah Tither-Kaplan, a former acting student at the film school Franco founded who went on to appear in several of his productions.

Tither-Kaplan is one of five women who, in interviews with The Times, accused Franco, 39, of behavior they found to be inappropriate or sexually exploitative. Four were his students, and another said he was her mentor.

In some cases, they said they believed Franco could offer them career advancement, and acquiesced to his wishes even when they were uncomfortable.

“I feel there was an abuse of power, and there was a culture of exploiting non-celebrity women, and a culture of women being replaceable,” said Tither-Kaplan, who was one of many women who took to Twitter on Sunday night to vent anger over Franco’s win.

She told The Times that in a nude orgy scene she filmed with Franco and several women three years ago, he removed protective plastic guards covering other actresses’ vaginas while simulating oral sex on them.

Two other student actresses also recounted negative on-set experiences. Both said Franco became angry when no women, while at the shoot, would agree to be topless.

 

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