James Franco addresses ‘sweaty’ naked photo that made him quit Instagram: ‘It just looked gross’
By Joshua Haigh
Actor and director James Franco has finally addressed the semi-nude photo that made him quit Instagram.
Back in May 2014, the 39-year-old shared an image of himself semi-naked and with his hands down his underwear.
Speaking to Variety to promote his new film The Disaster Artist, Franco revealed he was “testing the bounds”.
“It’s sort of the way I see people like the Kardashians. They are staking out new grounds and what these spaces are. They are making a lot of money off of it. What will happen if I do that? And you get reactions.”
“There was some photo I did. I wasn’t naked. I’m sure Rihanna has posted a bunch more risque photos. It was just the attitude of the photo. It was sweaty. My hand was in my boxers. It just looked gross.”
The Cobra actor explains how Gucci, whom Franco had an endorsement deal with at the time, told him: “Don’t do any more photos like that.”
Franco quit Instagram soon after sharing the image, and explained why he did it: “It’s very liberating. I just got rid of it. When I first got on, it just felt silly.”
“I treated it like it was a joke. You get in that weird seductive space where it feels private, but it’s also public. And you get hooked on the reaction.”
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