Award-winning actor James Franco has been accused of sexual misconduct by two former students who attended his acting and film school.
The American star is accused of abusing his position to engage in "sexually charged behaviour towards female students" by "dangling the opportunity for roles" in his films.
Former students, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, say Franco tried to "create a pipeline of young women who were subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education".
In the lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles, the female students allege they were pushed into taking part in explicit sex scenes "that went far beyond the standards in the industry".
These actions, the suit says, "led to an environment of harassment and sexual exploitation both in and out of the class."
In a statement to The New York Times, Mr. Franco's lawyer Michael Plonsker denied the accusations and called the lawsuit "ill-informed."
"James will not only fully defend himself, but will also seek damages from the plaintiffs and their attorneys for filing this scurrilous publicity-seeking lawsuit," Plonsker said.
Franco's production company, Rabbit Bandini and his two business partners, Vince Jolivette and Jay Davis, are also named as defendants.
Tither-Kaplan had previously come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Franco, shortly after he won a Golden Globe Award for his film The Disaster Artist last year.
Soon after the allegations first surfaced Franco told Stephen Colbert on his chat show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, that they were "not accurate".
He added: "But I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice because they didn't have a voice for so long.
Actor James Franco sued by two former students for alleged sexual misconduct
