James Franco's absence from the Critics' Choice awards said A LOT

‘I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I have done’

Last night’s Critics' Choice awards followed in the footsteps of the 2018 Golden Globes, becoming a platform for politics, with hosts, award-winners and attendees using the red carpet and on-stage air-time to call out the mistreatment of women, following a crushing year of sexual harassment and assault revelations.

It was unsurprising therefore that James Franco who won the Critics' Choice best actor award for his role in The Disaster Artist absented himself from the awards at the last minute - considering the allegations against him that have surfaced this week.

Hours after receiving his Best Actor Golden Globe on Sunday, the 39-year-old found himself facing sexual misconduct allegations by five separate women after some found it contradictory that he wore a #TIMESUP pin to the Globes, a symbol of solidarity with victims, considering his alleged past behaviour.

Upon the announcement that the under-fire actor had won the honour, it was revealed that the 39-year-old was not present and actor Walton Goggins had to accept the gong for him.

‘James couldn’t be here tonight to accept this, so we will accept it on his behalf.’

While James Franco hasn’t yet spoken out about his absence, he did address the allegations in a recent interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

‘I’ve heard about them,’ the actor told the host, emphasising that he prides himself on taking responsibility for his actions.

‘First of all, I have no idea what I did to Ally Sheedy,’ he went on to explain. ‘I directed her in a play off Broadway. I had nothing but a great time with her, a total respect for her. I have no idea why she’s upset, she took the tweet down. I don’t know. I can’t speak for her, I don’t know.’

He continued: ‘The others, look, in my life, I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I have done. I have to do that to maintain my wellbeing.’

‘I do it whenever I know that there’s something that’s wrong that needs to be changed. The things that I’ve heard that were on Twitter are not accurate, but I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice, because they didn’t have a voice for so long.’

‘I don’t want to shut them down in anyway. I think it’s a good thing and I support it.’