James Franco has agreed to pay more than $2.2m to settle a lawsuit brought against him by former students from his now-defunct acting school.
Two years ago, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal filed a complaint accusing the actor and his business partners of "widespread inappropriate and sexually charged behaviour towards female students" at the academy.
The pair also claimed that students who were willing to get naked for acting scenes during classes received special treatment - all allegations which Franco has strenuously denied.
Nevertheless, Franco has now moved to settle the matter out of court, agreeing to pay a total sum of $2,235,000 (£1.62m) to Tither-Kaplan, Gaal and the other members of the lawsuit.
As part of the settlement, an agreed joint statement was released which read: "The parties and their counsel are pleased to have resolved portions of this dispute and pending lawsuit.
"While Defendants continue to deny the allegations in the complaint, they acknowledge that Plaintiffs have raised important issues; and all parties strongly believe that now is a critical time to focus on address the mistreatment of women in Hollywood.
"All agree on the need to make sure that no one in the entertainment industry — regardless of sex, race, religion, disability, ethnicity, background, gender or sexual orientation — faces discrimination, harassment or prejudice of any kind."
Franco, 43, is thought to have a net worth of around $30m (£21.7m).
Neil Wilkes
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