James Franco has been digitally removed from the cover of the Vanity Fair Hollywood issue amid allegations of sexual harassment.
"We made a decision not to include James Franco on the Hollywood cover once we learned of the misconduct allegations against him," a spokesperson for Vanity Fair told The Hollywood Reporter.
The cover article, titled "12 Extraordinary Stars, One Momentous Year," included a dozen of Hollywood's biggest and most influential stars for the past year, as well as Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Graydon Carter.
According to THR, multiple sources confirmed that Franco was involved in the Annie Leibovitz shoot and was also interviewed back in November. He was to be part of the triple panel cover for his multiple nominations as Best Actor for "Disaster Artist." However, it was also his Golden Globe win that pushed Vanity Fair to photoshop him out of the all-star cover.
Just hours after his win, several women came out to allege that they were victims of sexual harassment perpetrated by the 39-year-old actor, who, ironically wore a Time's Up pin to the event, in support of the anti-sexual abuse movement.
Franco has since denied the accusations.
Following the allegations, a source told Entertainment Tonight that Franco already knew he was going to be removed from the cover. "He'd been bracing for the fallout," the insider said. Still, it was a major "kick to the gut" for the actor, who had been looking forward to being featured alongside a number of Hollywood icons.
"It's a very momentous moment. Opportunities like this don't come around often," the source added.
The Vanity Fair Hollywood issue, which was released on Jan. 25, features Oprah Winfrey, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hanks, Michael B. Jordan, Zendaya, Jessica Chastain, Claire Foy, Michael Shannon, Harrison Ford, Gal Gadot, Carter, and Robert de Niro.
Carter was the one who launched the Hollywood issue over 20 years ago, and this year's release marks his last hurrah for the magazine.
In an accompanying article, the magazine explained that the cover personalities were chosen based on the films and TV shows they represented, which "took the #MeToo movement in stride, offering strong women in leading roles, as well as the strong men supporting them."
