James Franco and His Instagram Debacle

I know James Franco from the movie 127 Hours, which really got me tired while watching it, and for his role as Harry Osborn in Spiderman 2 and 3. A talented actor who’s only 36, he has starred in several films in both lead and supporting roles.

Like many other celebrities, James Franco isn’t immune to gossip, and about a month ago he found himself in a tough spot which involved his social media use namely on Twitter and Instagram. He confirmed that he did indeed flirt with an underage girl of 17 on Instagram, and the “confession” of sorts happened on Live! With Kelly and Michael. The underage girl in question was a Scottish minor who happened to be in New York as a birthday treat from her family.

They got acquainted when the girl took a photo of him after an Of Mice and Men Performance with which she later tagged him on Instagram. Later on, they were exchanging flirty messages about meeting in a hotel, and the girl then posted the messages on Imgur which resulted in the wildfire-like spread of the gossip.

Instead of just shrugging off the whole scene, James Franco decided to face it head on by admitting although indirectly how he had indeed had a conversation with the girl, the nature of which was not described in detail when he admitted to it. It is kind of admirable, I think, that he addressed the issue instead of just shrugging off the whole business as other celebrities would do.

I kind of think it’s quite disappointing though—this behavior coming from a mid-thirties man who has a 3-year-old Twitter account which makes him quite if not fully aware of the dangers that social media use brings. Personally though, I don’t hold it against him or anybody for that matter since everybody makes mistakes and perhaps this was one of his. The apology, although indirect, showed that he had some kind of remorse and admitted to the fact that something did indeed transpire, even just in conversation over social media between him and the girl.

James Franco had already deleted the tweet as well as the Instagram post so interested individuals would no longer see it through his account.