Alison Brie came to her brother-in-law’s defense over sexual misconduct allegations at the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday.
Brie played a supporting role in The Disaster Artist, the movie that Franco directed and starred in, and which won him a Golden Globe earlier this year. However, his appearance at the award show wearing a Time’s Up pin prompted a small siege of accusations against him form actresses he’s worked with and several former students from his days as a college professor. They range from inappropriate banter to coercion to downright assault.
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Since then, Franco has been largely absent from the public eye. He skipped the Independent Spirit Awards, leaving Brie to field questions about the case. Brie is married to Franco’s younger brother, Dave Franco, who also starred in the movie.
“I obviously support my family, and not everything that’s been reported is fully accurate, so I think we’re waiting to get all of the information,” Brie said, according to a report by DailyMail. “But of course I think now is a time for listening, and that’s what we’re all trying to do.”
The 35-year-old actress stressed the importance of hearing victims and helping them to heal however possible.
“I think that above all what we’ve always said is that it remains vital that anyone who feels victimized should and does have the right to speak out and come forward,” she added.
Franco was nominated for Best Male Lead at the award show, though the trophy went to Timothee Chalamet for his work in Call Me by Your Name.
Brie was there as a presenter, though she wasn’t nominated for any awards herself. The night was an overwhelming success for Get Out, the indie horror film that took 2017 by storm. The movie won Best Feature, while Jordan Peele won Best Director for his work on it.
The award show was hosted by comedians John Mulaney and Nick Kroll, the voices behind the main characters in last year’s animated Netflix original series Big Mouth. They had the crowd laughing and cringing all at once with their unfiltered jokes about the Me Too movement and the Time’s Up campaign.
“Last year, everyone famous died. This year, everyone famous wishes they were dead,” Mulaney joked.
“The rules have changed for men. Some men are like can we hug women anymore? Not the way you’re doing it, pal — all breathy,” added Kroll.
It is not clear whether Franco plans to attend The Academy Awards on Sunday.
