James Franco: 'I'm not going to high schools looking for dates'
James Franco has defended his courtship of a 17-year-old fan again, insisting it's legal to date a girl that young in New York.
The movie star's Instagram correspondence with Scottish schoolgirl Lucy Clode turned embarrassing for Franco when she revealed her age.
The 127 Hours star, 36, met the teenager following a performance of
his Broadway play Of Mice & Men at the end of March (14), and later
contacted her through social media, asking for her phone number and
bombarding her with personal questions.
Appearing on TV show Live! With Kelly and Michael days after the
scandal broke, he explained the dangers of Internet dating, saying,
"I'm embarrassed, and I guess I'm just a model of how social media
is tricky. It's the way that people meet each other today, but what
I've learned - I guess because I'm new to it - is you don't know
who's on the other end... I used bad judgment and I learned my
lesson."
And, during a chat with satellite radio shock jock Howard Stern
earlier this week (begs28Apr14), Franco attempted to defend his
actions, stating, "Seventeen is legal in New York, but that being
said, it's still pretty damn young. They make it out like I'm
pursuing young women. I'm not going to high schools looking for
dates. I'm leaving my work and they're coming there. So, I'm seeing
attractive women."
And the actor insists he was nothing but polite: "I saw her (Clode)
and she said on her page, 'I love James Franco! Blahblahblah'.
'Well, OK, you look interesting. I don't know how old you are. I
was a gentleman. I said, 'Do you have a boyfriend?' And her
response was, 'Not when you're around'. So that to me sounds like,
'OK, she's interested'."
During the conversation with Stern, Franco also confirmed he had
kissed Lindsay Lohan during a romantic encounter with the Mean
Girls star when she was 17, but he insisted the two never had sex -
even though his name appeared on a lover's list scribbled by Lohan
during her rehab stint last year (13).