James Franco looked completely smitten with his girlfriend Izabel Pakzad as the pair headed out for dinner in Santa Monica on Thursday night.
The 46-year-old actor looked casual in a spotted T-shirt, graphic jacket and jeans as he took a stroll with his partner.
He completed his look with a baseball cap and sneakers.
Izabel, with whom he has had an on-again, off-again relationship since 2017, wore a black blouse and denim shorts, which clearly showed off her muscular legs.
She paired this with strappy sandals and a scarlet handbag.
James Franco looked smitten with his girlfriend Izabel Pakzad as the pair headed to Santa Monica for dinner on Thursday
The outing came after James returned to the red carpet at Cannes in May, five years after he was accused by his students of inappropriate behavior toward them.
The 127 Hours actor was all smiles as he attended the Kinds of Kindness premiere with his partner of seven years after disappearing from the spotlight in 2019.
In 2019, James was accused and sued by five of his students who attended his film school, Studio 4, for behaving inappropriately and sexually towards them. One of them accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex on him.
James’ attorney denied the allegations at the time and he eventually settled the case.
In a podcast interview late last year, Franco reiterated his belief that any sexual contact between him and his students was consensual.
“I slept with students while teaching, and it was wrong,” he said,
James previously played leading roles in Spider-Man, Pineapple Express and 127 Hours and was once a regular at parties.
He and Izabel started dating in November 2017 and they have made it a point to keep their relationship out of the spotlight.
The 46-year-old actor looked casual in a stained T-shirt, graphic jacket and jeans as he walked with his partner
In 2019, Mr. Franco was accused and sued by five of his students who attended his film school, Studio 4, for behaving inappropriately and sexually towards them – one accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex (pictured that year)
At the time, it was believed that the actor had decided not to make their relationship public after he was in the news for alleged sexual misconduct just weeks into their relationship.
The star blamed his infidelity and inappropriate behavior on a sex addiction, which he turned to after quitting alcohol as a teenager.
“It’s such a powerful drug,” he explained. “I got hooked on it for another 20 years. The trick is that I stayed sober from alcohol all that time.
“And I was going to meetings all the time. I was even trying to sponsor other people. So in my head it was like, ‘Oh, I’m sober. I’m living a spiritual life,’ and at the same time I’m acting in all these other ways, and I couldn’t see it.”
James said he has been in recovery from sex addiction since 2016 and has done “a lot of work” to change.
