When fan and actor collide, usually a beautiful, appreciative thing happens. Smiles are exchanged, and perhaps even an autographed bill. But I'll bet James Franco is wishing he never posed with Lucy Clode after a recent 'Of Mice and Men' Broadway performance.
According to an article in Elite Daily, it started when Franco asked the girl to tag him after posing for an Instagram picture with her. Then followed direct messages in which Franco propositions Clode, before discovering that she's just shy of her 18th birthday.
Franco tries to backtrack, but it's too late. He has already inquired about her boyfriend status, and should he procure a hotel room? When she asks for proof that it's him, he gleefully complies, posting a selfie in which he holds up a card with her name on it.
For a PhD candidate and A-list celebrity, that's either an incredibly brazen or an incredibly stupid move. Because of course Clode has a boyfriend and she is a 17-year-old living in the year 2014, she posted the whole creepy exchange via screenshots to social media, and now the pair of them are fending off swathes of haters.
Where Franco is deemed a sleaze for trying to pick up a teenager, Clode has been pegged a 'fame whore' for going public about the attempted pick-up.
When accused of being "thirsty for underage ones" Franco instagrammed a photo of himself and said: "I'M NOT! I HOPE PARENTS KEEP THEIR TEENS AWAY FROM ME. Thank you."
What's your take on this scandal?
This actor's girlfriend is only 19.
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