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Painting Over The Artist

SOLVED!

[Blind Gossip] This actor with multiple award nominations was so proud of his hometown.

After he became famous, he went back to his local high school and painted a mural. Yes, he fancies himself to be quite the artist.

The mural has been there for years. A real source of pride for the school.

His hometown is not so proud of him anymore. In fact, given his recent bad behavior, they decided that being affiliated with him would be disastrous.

They just painted over the mural.

Similar: He Was Not Just There For The Art

Actor:

Clues:

[Optional] Good move by the high school?

SOLVED!

Actor: James Franco

Clues: “Disastrous” and “artist”

James Franco considers himself a true artist. A modern day Van Gogh.

James Franco’s high school in Palo Alto, California is erasing his artwork and his legacy.

BlindGossip.com told you earlier this week that they painted over the murals that their famous alumni created for the school.

Since our original blind item, they have also removed other paintings of his that hung on the walls of the school.

Time’s up, James Franco!

From SFGate:

James Franco’s high school to remove all his artwork after allegations

Accusations of sexual misconduct against James Franco have led Palo Alto High School to distance itself from the the 1996 graduate who won a Golden Globe last month for his lead role in the movie “The Disaster Artist.”

Students and teachers have spent this week debating their principal’s decision on Monday to paint over a mural by Franco. He painted two murals for the school and loaned multiple paintings to its Media Arts Center when it opened in 2014.

On Thursday, Palo Alto Unified School District Superintendent Karen Hendricks announced that the rest of Franco’s artwork would be “transitioned” out.

“District staff recently considered the best interests of our students in the light of our educational mission, and decided to remove and return the remaining artwork,” Hendricks said in a statement.

Esther Wojcicki, who taught Franco at Palo Alto High and does not support the removal of the paintings, said she believed Principal Kimberly Diorio and administrators were responding to “pressure” from parents.

“The question is, and one of the kids asked this: How does it impact students to look at this art?” Wojcicki said. “A hundred years ago, 50 years ago, a lot of artists could have been accused of the same things Franco is. Do we take down all the art in the Louvre or in the MoMA?”

Tess Manjarrez, a junior, said she never liked the paintings for aesthetic reasons.

“They’re very dark and gloomy,” she said. “When the allegations against Franco surfaced, that seemed like more of a reason to take them down.”

Comparing Palo Alto High School to The Louvre or MOMA? LOL.

In case you thought that these works of art were completely original or completely done by Franco, let us fill you in. He used existing photographs as his “inspiration.” He outlined the mural on the wall. Then he had the students fill in the details. Then he signed his name to it.

One source told us:

James Franco’s artwork dominated the school walls and hallways not because he is a great artist, but because he is a celebrity. It would be great if the school would replace his gloomy art with colorful and uplifting artwork from current students!

Another source told us:

Esther Wojcicki is upset because she has hung her hat on being Franco’s former art teacher for years. If you ever have a conversation with her, it’s the first thing she mentions.

Here’s a photo of James Franco with Esther Wojcicki and a gaggle of underage female students at Palo Alto High School.

Gosh, it’s a shame that James Franco will now likely make fewer visits to PAHS, as he certainly loved to collect phone numbers from teenage girls and offer to personally mentor them!

Did you catch the clues we gave you? “Disastrous” and “Artist” should have led you to James Franco’s most recent film The Disaster Artist.

Congrats to Saskmom for being first with the correct response. Kudos to everyone who caught the clues to solve this one, starting with SeriallyChatty!

Related: The Hunting Ground

Related: Disaster Is Looming For This Actor

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  12. James Franco?
    Clues: Disastrous for Disaster Artist, he fancies himself an artist, recently accused of sexually inappropriate behavior, and has multiple acting noms.

  20. James Franco
    Clue – artist
    He’s painted other murals, even to promote movies.
    Yes it was a good move by the school.

  29. definitely james franco

    clues: ” multiple award nominations” and “he fancies himself quite the artist”. franco has a movie out named the disaster artist that was nominated at the golden globes and oscars.

  35. This is about james franco at paly (palo alto high school). I went to high school with him (did not know him personally) and just read about it.
    Yes, this was a good move by the school.

  44. Actor: James ‘creepy’ Franco

    Clues: artist and disastrous are a clue for the disaster artist.

    Optional: yes. Though it’s a wonder they were proud of it in the first place. He has always creeped me out.

  47. Actor: James Franco

    All I got was Artist from the Disaster Artist and I had read at some point that he was an art aficionado.

    Then I googled James Franco mural and his high school in Palo Alto painted over it in light of the allegations against him.

  48. James Franco, the “Artiste.”

    Optional: If by some odd twist of fate he really didn’t do what he’s been accused of, then they just insulted the heck out of him. However, man, the allegations are extremely serious! I don’t have a real answer on this one, Ace.

  49. James Franco’s REALLY horrible mural at Palo Alto HS.

    Clues:
    Fancies himself an artist
    Recent bad behavior = accusations of sexual harassment/assault

    • Clues are disaster and artist. Plus I very distinctly remember seeing like a Cribs episode with Marla Sokoloff when they were dating where he painted her some fairly ugly artwork that she showed off.

  52. Actor: James Franco

    Clues: “Artist” and “disastrous”. Franco’s most recent movie, “The Disaster Artist”.

  62. James The Creep Franco! His old high school in Palo Alto just painted over his mural! I wish he would own his shit!

  70. Actor:James Franco
    Clues: « artist », « disastrous » (his movie is The disaster artist)

    Optional: yes!

  72. Actor: James Franco

    Clues: He’s received multiple award nominations, he fancies himself to be an artist, “disastrous” (Disaster Artist). It was just reported that he painted a mural at Palo Alto High and it has since been painted over.

  73. I think it is James Franco. He fancies he is many things. Didn’t he enroll at some class at Harvard? He hosted the Oscars with Anne Hathaway and bombed. I won’t surprise me if he fancies himself an artist.
    Clue “disastrous” as in The Disaster Artist.
    Yes, it’s not the Sistine Chapel.

  75. James Franco
    Clues- Disastrous, artist
    It’s a good move, I have a feeling more allegations are coming.

  79. Actor: James Franco

    Clues: Artist, Disastrous = Disaster Artist

    [Optional] Good move by the high school? Yes. James Franco has had questionable accusations against him for years. They can’t all be bad decisions. He just doesn’t’ care.

  82. James Franco & his Palo Alto high school. They’re leaving his paintings up throughout the school though for now so it seems like they’ve just done it from pressure of people outside the school. Quite sad, in a way.

  83. Actor: James Franco

    Clues: “Disastrous”

    [Optional] Good move by the high school? Yes! He’s disgusting!

  94. James Franco
    Clues: “disastrous” (the disaster artist), “quite the artist” (disaster artist),

  99. This is solved. James Franco and Palo Alto, CA. No Franco love here in the least, but he has not been charged with anything (yet) in a court of law. I think all of this over-reaction on rumor is over the top.