James Franco has been forced to respond to sexual misconduct allegations this week following his appearance at the 75th Golden Globe Awards where he was criticised for wearing a 'Times Up' pin in solidarity for women who have been sexually harassed and assaulted, particularly within Hollywood.

James Franco at the BAFTA Los Angeles tea partyJames Franco at the BAFTA Los Angeles tea party

You might remember when the 39-year-old actor - who won Best Actor at the Golden Globes for his role in 'The Disaster Artist' - was exposed for trying to pick up a 17-year-old and invite her to a hotel in New York via Instagram back in 2014. He seemed embarrassed and contrite about his questionable behaviour at the time, but not everyone has forgiven him.

'The Breakfast Club' star Ally Sheedy called him out in Twitter in a couple of now deleted posts reading: 'Why is James Franco allowed in? Said too much' and 'James Franco just won. Please never ever ask me why I left the film/tv business.'

To make matters worse, a girl named Violet Paley also stepped forward with an allegation against Franco after she spotted his 'Times Up' pin. 'Cute #TIMESUP pin James Franco', she said on Twitter. 'Remember the time you pushed my head down in a car towards your exposed penis and that other time you told my friend to come to your hotel when she was 17? After you had already been caught doing that to a different 17 year old?'

Violet went on to claim that they did have a 'consensual relationship' but she knew of other girls who had experienced similar things. 'There are others who went through this same thing as me with him, and worse', she continued. 'A couple weeks ago, James offered me and a few other girls an overdue, annoyed, convenient phone 'apology'.'

A former student of Franco's named Sarah Tither-Kaplan also accused him of sexual exploitation. 'Remember a few weeks ago when you told me the full nudity you had me do in two of your movies for $100/day wasn't exploitative because I signed a contract to do it? Times up on that', she wrote.

Franco spoke about the accusations on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert', describing them as 'not accurate'. 'I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice because they didn't have a voice for so long', he continued. 'I don't want to, you know, shut them down in any way. It's, I think, a good thing and I support it.'

He claimed that he had no idea what Ally Sheedy's problem with him was. 'I have no idea what I did to Ally Sheedy', he said. 'I directed her in a play off-Broadway. I had nothing but a great time with her and I have total respect for her. I have no idea why she was upset.'

He also said that he makes a point of owning up to his bad decisions, adding: 'I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I've done.'

A Times Talks event with James Franco and Dave Franco was scheduled to take place today (January 10th 2018) but it has now been cancelled, with the New York Times uncomfortable with continuing after the allegations.

More: Read our review of James Franco's movie 'The Disaster Artist'

'The event was intended to be a discussion of the making of the film, 'The Disaster Artist'', a spokesperson told ABC News. 'Given the controversy surrounding recent allegations, we're no longer comfortable proceeding in that vein.'