Academy award winner James Franco is being sued by his former professor of New York University, José Angel Santana. The multi-talented career student took a course, Directing the Actor, and after receiving a “D” informed the news outlet Showbiz411 back in 2010 that Santana was “awful.” Adding that he only attended 12 out of the 14 classes. “I didn’t feel like I needed to waste my time with a bad teacher,” the 127 hours actor noted.
Since sharing his opinion Franco was hit with a lawsuit by the former teacher who has cited defamation of character and is suing for unspecified monetary damages according to Daily Caller. Santana revealed that he was let go from his position at the University for giving the Pineapple Express star a bad grade and has also sued the well known school for wrongful termination.
“Whoever was in Clint Eastwood’s chair at the Republican National Convention was more present than Mr. Franco was in my classes,” Santana stated to the Post. “[Franco] uses the bully pulpit of his celebrity to punish anyone who doesn’t do his bidding.” In a retort to the press Franco stated, “No teacher will ever be fired from NYU for giving a student a ‘D’. He wasn’t fired, he was asked not to come back after three years because they didn’t think he was a good teacher.”
Currently Franco is enrolled at Yale University where he is working towards a PhD in English literature. He is also a student at the Rhode Island School of Design while he works on several new roles that include 2014’s Third Person and the movie True Story.
