James Franco returned to the awards show circuit Sunday night for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, where he was nominated for best actor for The Disaster Artist. Franco missed the Critics' Choice Awards earlier in January, shortly after five women accused him of sexual misconduct.
Franco kept a relatively low profile at Sunday's SAG Awards. He did not appear to do any red carpet interviews and, unlike at the Golden Globes, he did not take the stage to collect a prize—best actor was won by Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour.
But on the red carpet, Franco's sister-in-law, GLOW star Alison Brie, was drawn into the controversy when E!'s Giuliana Rancic asked the actor about the claims against Franco. Brie is married to Franco's younger brother, Dave Franco. They both co-starred in Disaster Artist.
Brie, 35, gave a fairly diplomatic answer to Rancic, saying: "I think that above all, what we've always said is it remains vital that anyone that feels victimized should and does have the right to speak out and come forward."
"I obviously support my family. Not everything that has been reported is fully accurate, so I think we're waiting to get all the information. But of course now is the time for listening and that's what we're all trying to do," she added.
Franco was initially accused of sexual misconduct after his best actor win at the Golden Globes January 7. Then, January 11, the Los Angeles Times ran a story including quotes from five women who accused the actor of "behavior they found to be inappropriate or sexually exploitative."
After his Globes win, Franco made two appearances on late-night television and addressed the sexual misconduct allegations that surfaced against against him on Twitter after his victory.
Speaking to The Late Show's Stephen Colbert, Franco, 39, said the Twitter accusations were "not accurate" but added, "I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice, because they didn't have a voice for so long. So I don't want to shut them down in any way."
And on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers, Franco said he did not wish to refute the women making claims against him because he feels all victims of alleged misconduct deserve to be heard.
"There are people that need to be heard. I have my own side of this story, but I believe in these people that have been underrepresented getting their stories out enough that I will hold back things that I could say just because I believe in it that much," he said. "If I have to take a knock because I'm not going to try and actively refute things, then I will because I believe in it that much."
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