Last month, the director of MOCA, Jeffrey Deitch, decided to step down from his position at the museum. Critics on both coasts claimed that this was a surprise to no one. His three years at MOCA were filled with controversy, and in the end, most agreed that he just wasn't the right person for the job. A businessman more than a curator, who came from a gallery instead of museum, Deitch just didn't have the chops to make it as the director at MOCA. Deitch lovers and haters alike voiced opinions about the director's departure. From James Franco to John Baldessari, here's 10 Unexpected Reactions to Jeffrey Deitch Leaving MOCA. We hope he fairs better back in New York.
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James Franco
James Franco shows his support for Deitch on Instagram.
Six days after MOCA made Deitch's departure official, James Franco posted an image of himself talking to the doomed director with the caption "LA doesn't deserve jeffrey Deitch" on Instagram and Twitter. With over 15,500 likes, Franco does not stand alone in anger (or, as Hyperallergic deftly points out, "maybe they just think Franco looks cute in the pic.").
LA doesn't deserve jeffrey Deitch http://t.co/5ZrwvxO4ah
— James Franco (@JamesFrancoTV) July 31, 2013
Incidentally, the show Franco curated with Deitch last May, "Rebel"—from the film Rebel Without a Cause—was a deadly stab in many Deitch attacks. The fated friendship goes back even further. 2010, Franco was the star in Deitch's show, "SOAP at MOCA." At the time, Franco was acting the part of an artist on the soap opera General Hospital, and Deitch welcomed the production into MOCA's Pacific Design Center to film an episode. Afterwards, Franco screened a movie about exhibition/performance/bad TV episode in the museum proper. Stunts like this did nothing to help Deitch's reputation.