James Franco returned to the red carpet at Cannes with his girlfriend Isabel Pakzad on Friday – five years after after being accused by his students of behaving inappropriately towards them.
The 127 Hours actor, 46, smiled as he joined his partner of seven years, 28, at the premiere of Kinds of Kindness – after disappearing from the limelight in 2019.
Franco wore a black suit and bow tie while actress Pakzad went braless beneath a plunging black blazer adorned with metal chains.
She paired this with split flared trousers and heels as she supported her boyfriend.
Having not worked on a project since the accusations, Franco is in Cannes to promote his new film with director Tommy Lee Jones.
James Franco returned to the red carpet at Cannes with his girlfriend Isabel Pakzad on Friday – five years after after being accused by his students of behaving inappropriately towards them
Franco wore a black suit and bow tie as he returned to the spotlight
The new film, The Razor’s Edge, is debuting at Cannes with a hope to attract buyers and filming is expected to begin later in June.
It will be his first film appearance since The Deuce in 2018 unless you count his voiceover work in Arctic Dogs the following year.
In 2019 Franco was accused and sued by five of his students that attended his film school, Studio 4, for behaving inappropriately and sexually towards them – one accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex.
Franco’s attorney denied the allegations at the time, and eventually he settled the suit. In a podcast interview late last year, Mr Franco reiterated his belief that any sexual contact between him and his students had been consensual.
‘Over the course of my teaching, I did sleep with students, and that was wrong,’ he said,
Having previously played leading roles in the likes of Spider-Man, Pineapple Express and 127 Hours, Franco was once a regular at parties alike.
Arriving later into the night on Thursday, Franco was spotted in the VIP section wearing a tux at an exclusive Nespresso party on Cannes’s Croisette.
The 127 Hours actor, 46, smiled as he joined his partner of seven years, 28, at the premiere of Kinds of Kindness – after disappearing from the limelight in 2019
Pakzad went braless beneath a plunging black blazer adorned with metal chains
The star looked chipper as he headed onto the red carpet
Franco was supported by his partner of seven years
In 2019 Franco was accused and sued by five of his students that attended his film school, Studio 4, for behaving inappropriately and sexually towards them – one accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex (pictured that year)
The party, which also had the likes of actor Barry Keoghan, actress Hunter Schafer and ex-Love Islanders in attendance, carried on late into the evening with a free-flowing bar and Italian food on tap.
Hesitant to be bothered, Franco was sat in the VIP area which was guarded by heavy security.
Looking worse for wear the star was unrecognizable compared to his previous appearances less than a decade ago.