James Franco is Being Sued By His Former NYU Professor

For defamation of character.

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All that drama surroundingJames Franco and his former NYU professor José Angel Santana is finally coming to a head. Santana, who claims he was fired from his position at the university for giving Franco a 'D' in his class, is suing the actor for defamation of character, claiming that Franco is "a bully."

"[Franco] uses the bully pulpit of his celebrity to punish anyone who doesn’t do his bidding," he told the New York Post in reference to the suit.

Santana is seeking an unspecified amount of damages from the actor, who he claims earned a low grade in his class because he never showed up. "Whoever was in Clint Eastwood’s chair at the Republican National Convention was more present than Mr. Franco was in my classes," he said, citing that Franco was only present for two of the 14 scheduled class meetings during the course in question.

Franco has previously commented on Santana's course and teaching methods, interviews that directly contribute to Santana's current lawsuit. Among them, Franco has been quoted calling Santana a "bad teacher" who he didn't feel he needed to "waste" his time with, and, "He wasn’t fired, he was asked not to come back after three years because they didn’t think he was a good teacher."

[via New York Post]

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