James Franco He believes in his long-standing friendship with Seth Rogen completed its route.

talking with Diversity About his new film at the Rome Film Festival Hi Joe – It is Franco’s second film to be released since 2019. accused of sexually inappropriate behavior In 2018, by five women, four of whom were acting students. Los Angeles Times article – the actor and filmmaker said he and Rogen, 42, are not in contact these days.

“I haven’t talked to Seth. I love Seth, we had 20 great years together, but I think it’s over now,” Franco said. Freaks and Nerds, Pineapple Express, This is the End And Disaster Artist.

“And it’s not because I didn’t try. I told him how much he meant to me,” Franco added.

Franco’s career stalled after two former acting students filed a sexual abuse lawsuit In 2019. Franco concluded the case in 2021 and records obtained by PEOPLE at the time show him Agreed to pay $2.235 million in the settlement.

“While Defendants continue to deny the allegations in the Complaint, they recognize that Plaintiffs raise important issues, and all parties strongly believe that now is a critical time to focus on addressing the mistreatment of women in Hollywood,” both parties said in a joint statement. Statement published in 2021.

That same year, Rogen said in an interview: There were no plans to work with Franco We are moving forward.

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“I’m so grateful to be working. I got on a case and I wasn’t working during that case. But then COVID hit and everybody wasn’t working. So I don’t know, that’s all… So we were all in this together, so it was like, ‘I don’t know what I am,'” Franco said. DiversityWhile talking about his break from Hollywood.

“But I definitely used that time for a good cause. And whatever happened to me before, I had to change my entire lifestyle. So I’m proud of the work I did during that time. And yes, I wasn’t working in movies, but I was definitely working hard to change who I was.”

“It hurts to be told you’re bad,” he added elsewhere in the post. “But ultimately, that’s what I needed to stop going the way I was going.”

When Franco started to pursue his film career — Diversity Pointing out that he is working on at least three more projects, the actor mentioned a workaholic attitude before the case and reminded that he “didn’t really have a personal life” in the past.

“I had friends, but it was always kind of intertwined with my work,” he said. “And yes, I devote a lot of time to my personal life. I’ve been in a relationship for seven and a half years (with actress and filmmaker Izabel Pakzad). I’ve never been able to do that before. I was really… too scared to have real intimacy with anyone.”