In case you've been living under a WiFi-disabled rock for the entire morning, you probably know by now that the Internet completely exploded when screencaps of James Franco allegedly trying to hit on a 17-year-old girl hit the web (mostly involving him asking her how old she is, if she has a boyfriend, and if he should rent a room at the hotel she's staying at), as well as the following, mysterious tweet from Franco himself:
I'M NOT! I HOPE PARENTS KEEP THEIR TEENS AWAY FROM ME. Thank you http://t.co/I1d4n3yVe0
Here's a snippet of Franco's conversation with the 17-year-old girl, if you missed it:
Sketchy? Very. And while nothing is proven about this whole situation yet, if that truly was Franco trying to hit on a girl who told him that she's underage, well—then that's just shady as hell.
But we do have to wonder: Franco's actions seem really similar to the plot of his upcoming movie Palo Alto, as in that's literally what the movie is about. The film, which is based on stories that Franco himself wrote, follows Franco's character as an adult who is involved in an affair with a high school-aged girl (portrayed by Emma Roberts). Knowing James Franco, this sort of trolling/publicity stunt is totally up his alley, and you can't say it didn't get people talking about him just before the film is set to be released on May 9. Adding to this theory is the fact that the conversation allegedly happened on April 1, which is the same date a new Palo Alto trailer dropped.
Of course, for this to be the case behind his shady/thirsty behavior, the 17-year-old girl would have had to be involved in his plan as well—and considering she's now deleted her Instagram account, that's gonna be tough to figure out.
What do you think: Was Franco's behavior just a stunt to promote Palo Alto? Sound off in the comments.
