Seth Rogen Clarifies He Won’t Work With James Franco After 8 Movies Together

Seth Rogen has again broken his silence about where he stands with longtime friend and star James Franco, and it seems he sees no future working professionally with him. In an interview with The New York Times, the actor said,

Nothing has changed since the last time I talked about all this. I haven’t worked with him in a really long time and I have no plans to.

Rogen’s statement marks nearly five years since he publicly announced he was staying away from the actor after preliminary s*xual civil allegations against him. Rogen opted not to disclose the intimate, personal struggles involved in their broken friendship, yet stressed that he is in the same state of mind as when he addressed this matter to the public several years ago.

For the unversed, Rogen and Franco first met when they appeared together on the cult television series Freaks and Geeks. Over the next twenty years, they would become one of Hollywood’s most widely recognized comedy teams, co-starring in films like Pineapple Express, This Is the End, The Interview, Sausage Party, and The Disaster Artist. In total, they have done 8 films together.

Before diving into the details, here is a quick overview of the duo’s films’ critical and audience reception:

Why Does Seth Rogen Refuse to Work With James Franco?

In the aforementioned interview published on June 13, 2026, Seth Rogen, when asked about his current relationship with Franco, replied saying that he hasn’t talked to him in a long time. He said,

I honestly think the nuance of it is too personal for me to get into right now.

Rogen felt that the situation was too personal for him to get into right now, but said,

It is a very personal thing. There’s the public-facing side of it, which I’ve spoken about, and I have the same stance publicly that I’ve had, and I think the proof is in the pudding, I have not worked with him in years. But the personal side of it is just so nuanced, and it involves people that I don’t know if I should be dragging into this. I don’t know what I would benefit from getting deeply into it.

The rift between the two arose after a scandal hit James Franco in 2018. The Los Angeles Times published five women’s claims of inappropriate s-xual behavior against him, including four former pupils from his acting school. This feud next turned into litigious proceedings.

As reported by People, two ex-acting students filed a s*xual misconduct lawsuit against James Franco in 2019. The publication obtained court documents revealing that the director and actor agreed to pay more than $2.2 million to settle the class-action lawsuit.

Nearly simultaneously, Rogen broke his silence on the matter in an interview with The Sunday Times. The actor said the accusations had altered his friendship with Franco.

What I can say is that I despise abuse and harassment and I would never cover or conceal the actions of someone doing it, or knowingly put someone in a situation where they were around someone like that.

In an October 2024 interview with Variety, Franco indicated that their friendship had not recovered despite his own efforts to reach out. He said,

No. I haven’t talked to Seth. I love Seth, we had 20 great years together, but I guess it’s over. And not for lack of trying. I’ve told him how much he’s meant to me.

Seth Rogen’s most recent comments to The New York Times confirm that the two remain estranged both professionally and personally, with no indication that another collaboration is on the horizon. After 20 years and some of Hollywood’s most beloved comedies, it appears the curtain has come down on one of the industry’s most celebrated partnerships.

Which Seth Rogen and James Franco movie have you watched? Tell us in the comments below.