Celebrity News

James Franco wins best actor but skips award ceremony amidst sexual assault allegations

The actor has taken a big step back from the limelight as the accusations mount.
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It’s been a long while since James Franco won any major awards for his acting. In fact his last (and only) Golden Globe was back in 2002 for his portrayal of James Dean.

Thanks to his latest role in The Disaster Artist, he won a Globe earlier this week and today he took the gong for Best Actor in a Comedy at the Critics’ Choice Awards… but he didn’t collect the award.

Since collecting his Golden Globe while dressed in black – ostensibly to support the Time’s Up movement – the actor has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women.

Yesterday, five women went on record accusing the actor of sexually inappropriate and exploitative behaviour, four of which are Franco’s former acting students.

The women claim Franco “would always make everybody think there were possible roles on the table if we were to perform sexual acts or take off our shirts”.

“He’s in a really bad place, so bad that he changed his phone number,” a source close to the situation told PEOPLE. “His close friends are trying to be there for him but it’s been hard – he’s only talking to a select group of people. For now, he’s just hiding out.”

The Critics’ Choice Awards haven’t been all tense and awkward though – Big Little Lies took home four awards, including a best actress gong for Nicole Kidman.

“Every actor in this room knows you are only as good as the other actors you work with” Kidman said, adding: “I want thank all of my children who show me so much love.”

The actress had come under fire for not mentioning her two adopted children, Connor and Isabella, in her Golden Globes acceptance speech earlier this week.

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