A lawsuit of sexual misconduct was filed against American actor James Franco. He reportedly pushed his students into acting in explicit sex scenes on camera that went far beyond acceptable Hollywood standards, all under the guise of education.

According to reports from the Los Angeles Superior Court, the lawsuit, made as a class-action was first filed in 2019 by actresses and ex-students Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal.

However, both sides have settled, and Tither-Kaplan and Gaal have agreed to drop their claims according to the agreement.

The “Sausage Party” star allegedly sexually exploited young women both professionally and personally in the name of education. It was suggested that movie roles would only be available to those who went along with the scenes. 

Per the lawsuit, the incidents happened in a sex scene masterclass taught by Franco at “Studio 4,” which operated from 2014-2017.

However, the case was put on hold as the two sides had discussions spanning several months to reach an agreement—attorneys on both sides of the lawsuit communicated via emails seeking comments on details of the contract.

In an initial court filing, Franco’s attorneys, while applauding the #MeToo movement that inspired the lawsuit, called the claims “false and inflammatory, legally baseless and brought as a class action with the obvious goal of grabbing as much publicity; as possible for attention-hungry Plaintiffs.”

The attorney pointed to the fact that Tither-Kaplan had previously expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to work with Franco.

Defendants in the litigation also included Franco’s partners, Vince Jolivette, Jay Davis, and his production company, Rabbit Bandini.

According to the court’s joint status report, the allegations of sexual exploitation will be dismissed without bias leaving room for the case to be retried. The document also stated that Fraud allegations brought by the prosecutors would be “subject to limited release.”

However, the report does not disclose how much money will be involved in the settlement to be submitted for preliminary court approval by March 15. 

Before taking any legal actions, Tither-Kaplan had previously made her grievances known during the #MeToo movement in early 2018.

She aired her allegations of sexual misconduct against Franco along with other women in the “Los Angeles Times” after Franco bagged a “Golden Globe Award” in 2018 for “The Disaster Artist.

 During a later interview on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Franco termed the sexual misconduct allegations about him as false. He said, “If I’ve done something wrong, I will fix it. I have to.”

The 42-year-old actor is known for his comedy roles alongside Seth Rogen. Since the allegations against him started, he has kept a low-profile resulting in a productive period that culminated in the acclaimed “Disaster Artist.”