• Skip to content
  • Skip to footer

CASTIMONIA

Sexual Purity Support & Recovery Group

  • Home
  • About Castimonia
    • Statement of Faith
    • Member Struggles
    • Are You a Sex Addict?
    • About the Leaders of Castimonia
  • Meetings
    • What to Expect at a Castimonia Meeting
    • Meeting Times & Locations
      • Arkansas Meetings
      • New York Meetings
      • Tennessee Meetings
      • Texas Meetings
      • Telephone Meeting
      • Zoom Online Meetings
  • News & Events
  • Resources
    • Books
    • Document Downloads
    • Journal Through Recovery
    • Purity Podcasts
    • Recovery Videos
    • Telemeeting Scripts
    • Useful Links
  • Contact Us

porn

April 1, 2022 By Castimonia

James Franco breaks silence, admits to sleeping with students from his acting school

Originally posted at: https://www.npr.org/2021/12/23/1067331934/james-franco-sexual-misconduct-allegations-sex-addiction-interview

This article is not meant to shame James Franco, but to bring to light that this problem does not discriminate!

In a rare and wide-ranging interview, James Franco acknowledged he slept with students of the acting school he co-owned, saying he believed their encounters to be consensual despite the striking imbalance of power.

The Oscar-nominated actor has faced several allegations of sexual misconduct since 2018 — which he denied at the time — and earlier this year settled a class-action lawsuit led by two former students who claimed they were sexually exploited and victims of fraud at the now-closed school.

Franco addressed those allegations and his struggles with sex addiction, among other topics, in an interview with The Jess Cagle Show, which posted several clips of the conversation to YouTube on Wednesday ahead of its full release on Thursday afternoon.

“There were people who were upset with me and I needed to listen,” Franco said when asked why he had been silent until now. “I’ve just been doing a lot of work and I guess I’m pretty confident in saying, four years? There were some issues that I had to deal with that were also related to addiction. And so I’ve really used my recovery background to kind of start examining this and changing who I was.”

The 2019 lawsuit alleged that Franco and two other men sexually exploited female students at Studio 4, a New York- and Los Angeles-based acting school Franco founded in 2014 (he taught acting there and also at the collegiate level).

The plaintiffs, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, sought to represent a class of more than 100 former female students. They alleged the school set out to “create a steady stream of young women to objectify and exploit,” as well as “circumvent California’s ‘pay for play’ regulations,” which prohibit making actors pay for auditions. They told NPR in 2019 that they were promised that as paying students, they would be offered opportunities to audition for roles in Franco’s projects.

Part of the complaint involved a class called Sex Scenes, which required students to audition and pay an extra $750. Tither-Kaplan said she assumed the class would teach her how to navigate sex scenes professionally, but that she found its goal to be more for students to “get naked and do sex scenes and not complain and push the envelope.”

Franco denied the lawsuit’s allegations at the time, with his attorney also saying he would seek damages from the plaintiffs and their lawyers “for filing this scurrilous publicity seeking lawsuit.” The women dropped their claims in Feb. 2021 after the parties reached a preliminary settlement, and Franco officially agreed to settle the suit for $2.2 million in late June.

“I didn’t sleep with anybody in that particular class, but over the course of my teaching I did sleep with students, and that was wrong,” Franco said in one video clip. “But … it’s not why I started the school, and I wasn’t the person that selected the people to be in the class. So it wasn’t a master plan on my part, but yes, there were certain instances where … I was in a consensual thing with a student and I shouldn’t have been.”

Cagle pushed back, asking Franco how he could not have been aware of the power imbalance between students and their teacher, a very famous actor.

“I suppose at the time my thinking was if it’s consensual, OK,” Franco said. “Of course I knew, you know, talking to other people, other teachers or whatever, like, yeah, it’s probably not a cool thing. At the time I was not clear-headed… so I guess it just comes down to, my criteria was, like, if this is consensual I think it’s cool, we’re all adults.”

Franco also characterized the sex scenes class as provocatively titled, saying it was about dating and relationships and should have been called something more along the lines of “contemporary romance.”

In a statement, a group of former students involved in the litigation against Franco called his comments “a transparent ducking of the real issues.”

“In addition to being blind about power dynamics, Franco is completely insensitive to, and still apparently does not care about, the immense pain and suffering he put his victims through with this sham of an acting school,” the former students said. “It is unbelievable that even after agreeing to a settlement he continues to downplay the survivors’ experiences and ignore their pain, despite acknowledging he had no business starting such a school in the first place. This wasn’t a misunderstanding over a course name, it wasn’t the result of him being overworked – it was, and is, despicable conduct.”

Franco discussed his sex addiction and its impact on his personal and professional relationships

At another point, Franco acknowledged he had “let a lot of people down,” like his students, the Oscars and his coworkers on various movies. Franco talked about being overworked and approaching his breaking point while juggling a Broadway show, movie filming and teaching at four Los Angeles schools.

A year before the misconduct allegations emerged, he said, one of his agents staged an intervention about him being a workaholic.

He talked about struggles with addiction, first to alcohol and then to sex. He said after he got sober at the age of 17, he sought validation from his professional success and then with attention from women. The problem, he said, is that “there’s never enough.”

Franco acknowledged he wasn’t faithful in relationships, saying he cheated on “everyone” before his current girlfriend. He said his sponsor had suggested that infidelity and dishonesty could harm his sobriety but wasn’t concerned about “whatever happens between two consenting adults” while single. Franco said he used that as “an excuse to just hook up all over the place.”

“It was like, ‘Well, we’re being honest here, right,’ and like you said, completely blind to power dynamics or anything like that, but also completely blind to people’s feelings,” he said, adding that his behavior reached a point where he was “hurting everybody.”

He also spoke about his longtime friend and collaborator, Seth Rogen, who said earlier this year that he did not plan to work with Franco again in the wake of the sexual misconduct allegations.

“I love Seth Rogen,” Franco said. “I worked with him for 20 years, we didn’t have one fight … He was my absolute closest work friend, collaborator, we just gelled. And what he said is true, we aren’t working together right now and we don’t have any plans to work together.”

Franco said that while Rogen’s comments were hurtful, he understood that Rogen had to answer for him because he himself was silent. He added that that’s another reason he wanted to speak up — “so people don’t have to answer for me anymore.”

Filed Under: Sexual Purity Posts Tagged With: addiction, James Franco, porn, pornography, recovery, Sex, sex addiction, sexual

March 28, 2022 By Castimonia

Donation

Originally posted at: http://theresstillhope.org

Father O’Malley answered the phone.

“Hello, is this Father O’Malley?”

“It is.”

“This is the IRS. Can you help us?”

“I can.”

“Do you know a Ted Houlihan?”

“I do.”

“Is he a member of your church?”

“He is.”

“Did he donate $10,000 to the church?”

“He will.”

It would appear that Ted Houlihan attempted to stick it to the IRS, claiming to have made a charitable contribution he had not actually made. I hear that all the time: “I’m done with my addiction.” “I have no more temptation.” “The battle is over.”

The Bible warns us, “When words are many, transgression is not lacking” (Proverbs 10:19).

Recovery Step: Be the person you want others to think you are.

Filed Under: Humor, Sexual Purity Posts Tagged With: castimonia, porn, recovery, Sex, sex addiction, sexual, sexual purity

March 20, 2022 By Castimonia

Pray For My Hearing

Originally posted at http://theresstillhope.org

The local pastor could tell something was bothering one of his church members. After the morning service he pulled the man aside and asked him, “What’s wrong, Robert?”

Robert: “I need you to pray for my hearing.”

The pastor put his hands on Robert’s ears and prayed for healing. Then he asked, “How’s your hearing now, Robert?”

Robert: “I don’t know. It’s not until Tuesday.”

Clear communication is key to any relationship. Solomon advised, “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame” (Proverbs 18:13).

When you work your recovery plan, lean heavily on the counsel of those who have gone before you. When they speak, listen – carefully.

Recovery Step: Listen carefully to the words of those with successful recovery.

Filed Under: Humor, Sexual Purity Posts Tagged With: addiction, christian, porn, recovery, Sex, sex addiction, sexual purity

March 17, 2022 By Castimonia

Quest for Authentic Manhood

I cannot recommend this course enough for those of us new in recovery. This course helped me see my father wound, mother wound, and my own wounds and is a great course in family of origin issues but most importantly on how to become a real man; a man of God. This course was key in my own personal recovery and in following God’s calling to start Castimonia. – Jorge

Good Morning Mighty Men and Happy St. Patrick’s Day,

In exactly 1 WEEK FROM TODAY on Thursday, March 24th we will be starting the “Quest for Authentic Manhood” class at The Fellowship! Quest for Authentic Manhood is the class that I went through while I was homeless living at the Salvation Army. This class taught me that as a man I am not alone in the struggles that we all face in todays world. This class was the beginning for me in learning how to live my life for Jesus and to be a responsible Christian Man.

Some of the topics that we will dive into include:

  • Facing the Father Wound
  • The All Alone Wound
  • A Man and His Wife
  • 25 ways to be a Servant Leader
  • Fathers and Sons
  • Fathers and Daughters
  • A Man and His Life Journey

I GUARANTEE that after going through this class you will be a better husband, father, brother, son, employee and all around better man! The class will be held every Thursday night from 7:00-8:30 pm in the LOFT COMMONS in the NEXT GEN Building of The Fellowship located at 22765 Westheimer Parkway, Katy, TX 77450. Please click on the below link to register:

https://thefellowship.brushfire.com/events/528704

We look forward to seeing you guys on March 24th and please email me with any questions at men@thefellowship.orgI Love you Guys and I pray for you every single day!

Filed Under: Sexual Purity Posts Tagged With: addiction, castimonia, christian, porn, pornography, recovery, Sex, sex addiction, sexual purity

March 8, 2022 By Castimonia

Off By One Degree

Originally posted at: http://www.theresstillhope.org

If you aim at something, but are off by just one degree, will it really matter? Actually, yes.

If you are off by just one degree over the course of a mile, you will miss your target by 92 feet. If you were to fly from New York to Los Angeles, and be off by just one degree, you’d miss your target by 50 miles. 

Many of us treat recovery like hand grenades and dancing – close is good enough. 

But is close good enough? That would be a firm “NO!”

Yes, it’s about progress, not perfection. But never give yourself permission to view porn, masturbate, sext, or visit sexually provocative websites. To be off by just one degree would be comparable to a quick slip. No big deal, unless that slip is off the side of a mountain.

Recovery Step: “Let him who sins sin no more” (John 8:7).

Filed Under: Sexual Purity Posts Tagged With: addiction, porn, pornography, recovery, Sex, sex addiction, sexual, sexual purity

  • « Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Page 4
  • Page 5
  • …
  • Page 314
  • Next Page »

Footer

Useful Links

Castimonia Restoration Ministry, Inc. is a 501c3 non-profit organization


This site is intended for individuals who struggle with maintaining sexual purity. This information is posted for individuals at various stages in their recovery, year 1 to year 30+; what applies to some, may not apply others. Spouses are encouraged to read this blog with the caveat that they may not agree with, understand, or know the reason for some items posted. As always, take what you like and leave the rest.

Copyright © 2022 · Altitude Pro on Genesis Framework · Log in

 

Loading Comments...