James Franco attends SAG Awards amid sexual misconduct controversy — and leaves empty-handed
It was a disaster in the making — until James Franco lost.
The embattled film star, who has been dogged by sexual misconduct accusations, avoided an awkward moment at Sunday night’s Screen Actors Guild Awards by losing out to Gary Oldman in the best actor category.
Franco, who was nominated for his role in “The Disaster Artist,” skipped last week’s Critics’ Choice Movie Awards in the wake of the controversy and missed the chance to pick up his trophy for his win there. Franco also won at the Golden Globe Awards two weeks ago, but the moment was tainted after several women accused him on Twitter of sexual misconduct.
The women called him out as a hypocrite because he attended the ceremony wearing a Time’s Up pin endorsing the movement aimed at ending abuse and harassment of women in and outside of Hollywood.
Franco was also criticized on the biggest stage of the weekend, during a Women’s March rally Saturday in Los Angeles that drew 500,000 participants. There, actress Scarlett Johansson began her speech with an attack on the 39-year-old Franco.
“How could a person publicly stand by an organization that helps to provide support for victims of sexual assault while privately preying on people who have no power?” said Johansson, one of the 300 original signers of the Time’s Up letter. “I want my pin back, by the way.”
Franco’s sister-in-law Alison Brie dodged the issue during a stop on the red carpet at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium.
“I think that above all, what we’ve always said is…