James Franco Returning for Season 2 of HBO Series ‘The Deuce’

Despite multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against him, James Franco will return for the second season of the HBO series, The Deuce, according to Entertainment Weekly.

The publication reports that show writer Megan Abbott met with reporters during the Writers Guild Awards ceremony Sunday and said “of course” Franco would be back.

The show, which aired its eight-episode first season from August through October 2017, has Franco playing twin brothers Vincent and Frankie Martino who become fronts for the mob as they become entangled in the rise of adult film entertainment in 1970s Manhattan.

Five women came forward with misconduct allegations against Franco in January, leading to his removal from the Academy Awards cover of Vanity Fair. Additionally, he was called out by multiple celebrities, including Scarlett Johansson. Franco however went on both Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Late Night with Seth Meyers to deny the allegations.

“Look, in my life I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I have done,” Franco told Colbert. “I have to do that to maintain my well being. The things that I heard that were on Twitter are not accurate. But I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice because they didn’t have a voice for so long. So I don’t want to shut them down in any way. If I have done something wrong. I will fix it — I have to.”

Both HBO and Deuce co-creator David Simon came out in defense of Franco, saying that there were no reports of bad behavior while he worked on the show.

“We have verified that no complaints about Mr. Franco have come in on The Deuce production,” HBO said in a statement to Deadline in January.

“I’m still reading it the same as everyone else, trying to discern what is or isn’t there,” Simon said. “Personally I can only speak knowledgeably to The Deuce. I’ve checked with all my fellow producers and other personnel. We have no complainant or complaint or any awareness of any incident of concern involving Mr. Franco. Nor has HBO been approached with any complaint. In our experience, he was entirely professional as an actor, director, and producer.”

While The Deuce has been confirmed for a second season, a release date has not been announced.