James Franco looked smitten with his girlfriend Izabel Pakzad as the pair headed out to dinner in Santa Monica on Thursday.
The 46-year-old cut a casual figure in a stained T-shirt, graphic print jacket and jeans as he strolled with his partner.
She completed her look with a baseball cap and sneakers.
Izabel, who he has dated on and off since 2017, wore a black top and denim shorts that showed off her toned legs.
She paired it with strappy sandals and a scarlet handbag.
James Franco looked smitten with his girlfriend Izabel Pakzad as the pair headed out to dinner in Santa Monica on Thursday.
The outing comes after James returned to the Cannes red carpet in May, five years after being accused by his students of behaving inappropriately towards them.
The 127 Hours actor was all smiles as he joined his partner of seven years at the premiere of Kinds of Kindness, 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 accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex on him.
James’ attorney denied the allegations at the time and eventually settled the lawsuit.
In a podcast interview late last year, Mr. Franco reiterated his belief that any sexual contact between him and his students had been consensual.
“Throughout my teaching, I slept with students, and that was wrong,” he said.
Having previously played starring roles in films such as Spider-Man, Pineapple Express and 127 Hours, James was once a regular at parties alike.
He and Izabel began dating in November 2017 and have made a point of keeping their romance out of the spotlight.
The 46-year-old cut a casual figure in a stained T-shirt, graphic print jacket and jeans as he strolled 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 toward them; one accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex on him (pictured that year).
At the time, it was believed that the actor had decided not to go public with his relationship after making headlines for alleged sexual misconduct just weeks into their romance.
The star attributed his infidelities and inappropriate behavior to sex addiction, which he turned to after giving up alcohol as a teenager.
“It’s a very powerful drug,” he explained. “I became addicted to it for another 20 years. The insidious thing about that is that I stayed sober from alcohol for all that time.”
‘And I went to meetings all that time. I even tried to sponsor other people. So in my head, I was like, “Oh, I’m sober. I’m living a spiritual life,” but at the same time, now 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 “been doing a lot of work” to change.
