James Franco Sued by NYU Professor
Says he was fired for failing Franco.
Former professor at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts José Angel Santana says he was fired after he dared to give James Franco a D, after the hella busy actor/artist (see his photography in our 100th issue) showed up to only two of his 14 classes. He's already sued the university itself over, and now he's trying to sue the actor/perpetual grad-school student for defamation. In defence of his tardiness/absence, James has said, "I didn't feel like I needed to waste my time with a bad teacher." Snap! James also told the NY Post that he "did well in everything else" — although that argument hardly does you any favours when the accusation is basically one of favouritism.
José claims that Franco had access to teaching records, in which the professor had "overwhelmingly positive" student evaluations, but the actor slagged him off anyway, because all celebrities are evil. The teacher also claims that all the other NYU staff "bent over backwards to create a Franco-friendly environment", whereas he was simply being a fair and objective marker. Adding some legitimacy to his claims of teacher's pettiness is the fact that James Franco has hired his own professors to write and direct films he's worked on, such as William Vincent, and the film department's chairman has even made a cameo in a James Franco movie. But that kind of boundary-blurring of reality vs spectacle is part of the whole loveable Franco schtick! Some people are so cynical.
Jerico Mandybur
