James Franco is confused about why women are accusing him of harassment

James Franco joined many other celebrities in wearing a Time’s Up pin at the Golden Globes ceremony Sunday, in a show of support for the recently launched anti-harassment initiative geared toward fighting abuse of power and helping victims of sexual harassment. By Tuesday night, the actor was responding to questions concerning his own alleged sexual misconduct, in an at-times tense interview with "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert.

“You were wearing a Time’s Up pin in support of the Time’s Up movement, which has been created by many powerful women in Hollywood to say that the time is up for the abuse, misuse of women both sexually and otherwise, not only in Hollywood but around the country,” Colbert began. “You got criticized for wearing that. Do you know why? And do you have a response, do you have anything you want to say about that criticism?”

Franco, who was making the rounds after winning best lead actor in a comedy for "The Disaster Artist" at the Golden Globes, offered a clumsy response, denying the allegations while attempting to position himself in support of the larger “Me Too” movement.

"The things I 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,” Franco told Colbert.

In a series of now-deleted tweets, actress Ally Sheedy, who Franco directed in a 2014 off-Broadway play, seemed to alleged Franco, as well as actor Christian Slater, had behaved inappropriately towards her. Using the #MeToo hashtag that’s come to define the global movement pushing back against rampant sexual harassment and assault, Sheedy posted a series of exasperated tweets as Franco celebrated his award on stage.

“James Franco just won. Please never ask me why I left the film/tv business,” she tweeted. “Ok wait. Bye. Christian Slater and James Franco at a table on @goldenglobes #MeToo

During his back-and-forth with Colbert, Franco denied the allegations.

"First of all, I have no idea what I did to Ally Sheedy,” he said in the interview. “I had nothing but a great time with her — total respect for her.”

But Sheedy wasn’t the only one to come forward on social media after Franco’s award-show appearance. Another actress, Violet Paley, tweeted that Franco had tried to force her head on his exposed penis, and accused Franco of similar “and worse” abuses toward other women.

Franco’s behavior with women has been called into question before. In 2014, a transcript leaked of an alleged conversation between Franco and Lucy Clode, a 17-year-old Scottish tourist, where he badgered her to meet him in a hotel room in New York.

Afterwards, Franco sent out a now-deleted image on Instagram and Twitter that read, “I HOPE PARENTS KEEP THEIR TEENS AWAY FROM ME. Thank you.” He later apologized for the exchange with Clode.