--- title: Lindsay Lohan Recalls the Time She Had Sex With James Franco description: (This is a work of fiction.) canonical: https://time.com/2853753/lindsay-lohan-james-franco-fiction/ author: Sarah Miller article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-10T20:56:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:34.240Z article:section: Ideas og:title: "Lindsay Lohan" Recalls the Time She Had Sex With James Franco og:description: (This is a work of fiction.) og:url: https://time.com/2853753/lindsay-lohan-james-franco-fiction/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta90918e3a5b32b55/698681f8f983e700d704c5b8/lindsay-lohan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Actress Lindsay Lohan speaks at a press conference on Jan. 20, 2014 in Park City, Utah. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: "Lindsay Lohan" Recalls the Time She Had Sex With James Franco twitter:description: (This is a work of fiction.) twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta90918e3a5b32b55/698681f8f983e700d704c5b8/lindsay-lohan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:03 video:published: 2014-04-18 section: entertainment topics: celebrity scandal, sex list, rehabilitation, Alcoholics Anonymous, tabloid reporting, Watch What Happens Live, OWN network, personal privacy genre: talk show segment, celebrity news tones: candid, reflective, sensational emotions: embarrassment (medium), vulnerability (medium), amusement (low) sentiment: neutral audience: celebrity news readers, entertainment viewers, TV talk show fans people: Lindsay Lohan, Lauren Zima organizations: Watch What Happens Live, In Touch Weekly, Betty Ford, OWN, Alcoholics Anonymous, Beverly Hills Hotel products: Instagram content_suitability: sexual content [00:00-00:31]; drugs and alcohol [00:08-00:12] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Lindsay Lohan Recalls the Time She Had Sex With James Franco > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=3b797d35-56ad-4017-b910-ece812ff2e02&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Late-Night Highlight: Lindsay Lohan Confirms ‘Sex List’ Is Real [Watch (HLS stream): Late-Night Highlight: Lindsay Lohan Confirms ‘Sex List’ Is Real](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hIR74JT1.m3u8) (1:03)  _Published 2014-04-18. On ‘Watch What Happens Live,’ Lindsay Lohan confirmed a list of her alleged sexual partners was written by her, but said writing it was part of completing rehab._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary Lindsay Lohan appears on Watch What Happens Live and confirms that a list of her alleged sexual partners is real, saying she wrote it as her fifth step in AA at Betty Ford. She says a photo of the list was taken during the OWN show. The list, published by In Touch Weekly, is discussed alongside the outlet's differing account of how it was obtained. Lohan is said to discuss the scandal further in an upcoming season finale of her OWN show. ## Key points - Lindsay Lohan confirmed on Watch What Happens Live that a sex list of her alleged sexual partners is real. (00:00) - Lohan said writing the list was her fifth step in AA at Betty Ford. (00:08) - Lohan said someone must have taken a photo of the list while she was moving during the OWN show. (00:12) - Lohan described the list as a really personal thing and said its exposure is unfortunate. (00:15) - The list, featuring many famous names, was published by In Touch Weekly in March. (00:20) - In Touch Weekly said its source obtained the list after Lohan left it behind at the Beverly Hills Hotel. (00:31) - In Touch Weekly quoted its source saying Lohan tossed the list aside after trying to impress her friends with it. (00:38) - Lohan will discuss the scandal further in the season finale of Lindsay on OWN Sunday. (00:45) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:31] Lohan confirms the sex list is real. Lohan confirms the list of alleged sexual partners is real and says she wrote it as part of her AA fifth step. - [00:31 to 01:03] Competing accounts of how the list was obtained. In Touch Weekly's account of how its source obtained the list is contrasted with Lohan's own version, and an upcoming season finale is mentioned. ## Key quotes - [00:08] Lindsay Lohan: "That was actually my fifth step in AA at Betty Ford." - [00:15] Lindsay Lohan: "And so that's a really personal thing." - [00:31] In Touch Weekly: "she was trying to impress her friends with the list and then tossed it aside." - [00:59] Lindsay Lohan: "she had so much fun on the show." ## Questions this video answers - Did Lindsay Lohan confirm that the sex list is real? [00:00] - How did In Touch Weekly say it obtained the list? [00:31] - Where will Lohan discuss the scandal further? [00:45] ## Content suitability - sexual content [00:00-00:31]: Discussion of a list of alleged sexual partners, including references to famous names. - drugs and alcohol [00:08-00:12]: Reference to Alcoholics Anonymous and rehab at Betty Ford. by [Sarah Miller](https://time.com/author/sarah-miller/) ## Sarah Miller Jun 10, 2014 8:56 PM UTC  Actress Lindsay Lohan speaks at a press conference on Jan. 20, 2014 in Park City, Utah. Actress Lindsay Lohan speaks at a press conference on Jan. 20, 2014 in Park City, Utah. George Pimentel—Getty Images by [Sarah Miller](https://time.com/author/sarah-miller/) ## Sarah Miller Jun 10, 2014 8:56 PM UTC _Tuesday, James Franco published his_ [_fictional account_](http://www.vice.com/read/bungalow-89-0000347-v21n6) _of the time he did not have sex with Lindsay Lohan—another platform on which to deny her infamous “_[_sex list_](http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/lindsay-lohan-sex-list-james-3293698)_.” Well, she maintains they did. Here’s what happened.\*_ James Franco says that we did not have sex and one of the things I learned growing up in a family of chaos was to respect other people’s truths, even if that truth is something they made up driving home wasted in an Escalade that I frickin bought. Anyway, since he has shared his version of events, I think it’s only fair that I share mine. It was a few years ago. I don’t remember if I was sober or not. I think I probably was. I actually never even really drank that much, and as I told Oprah, I only did coke 10-15 times, so statistically, the chances are good I was not wasted when this happened. I was wandering around the Chateau Marmont, which is a hotel. _Some_ people like to go on and on about what it represents to them and all the stuff they did there, but I’m just going to stick with calling it a hotel, because on Long Island we like to keep it simple. I will say that I do like the Chateau because there are lots of beautiful flowers tended by people who care as deeply about tending flowers as I do about my passion, starring in films. I had just taken a swim in the pool where, per the advice of several therapists, I had taken some time to imagine that I was one of any number of various sea creatures. Afterwards I had taken a leisurely shower and then put a deep conditioning pack on my hair. So I was just walking around inhaling the scent of night blooming jasmine and my deep conditioning pack when one of the bungalow doors opened. This guy stuck his head out. I didn’t know who it was. In fact at first I thought it was this guy who worked at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on Beverly and I was like what is he doing here? “Hey,” he said. As I got closer I saw that it was that actor who always wants people to think that he’s smart but I still couldn’t remember his name. “Oh hey,” I said. “What are you doing?” he said. “I’m deep conditioning my hair,” I said. “Why?” he said. He said it in this really challenging way, like deep conditioning your hair was against the law. “Uh, because it has a lot of split ends from being so color treated and all the extensions that I have used over the last few years, being an actress who cares about my craft, the way that Chateau Marmont flower-tenders care about flowers.” He shook his head. He was kind of good looking I guess but there was something about his face. He looked so serious, like he had just finished reading 1000 books and had to read 1000 more or he was never going to get to watch TV again. He said, “Have you ever thought about all the time you spend deep conditioning your hair? Have you ever thought about how the expectations that society places on you as a celebrity and how you exploit yourself by responding to them?” I said, “Duh, that’s all I think about. But deep conditioning my hair is one of the ways I find my center.” “That’s beautiful,” he said. He actually got a tear in his eye. Then he said, “I’m sorry, it’s just that the intersection of the banal commercial world with narratives about inner peace triggers a conditioned, sentimental response in me that produces something like actual feelings.” It was all clear now. “You’re James Franco,” I said. He asked me to come in and I did. I sat in a chair. “Gus Van Zandt once sat in that chair,” he said. “I’m sorry, I don’t know who that is,” I said, even though I did. I knew anyone who went to school for as long as James Franco had was probably just enough of a jerk to imagine that everyone he came in contact with was the stupidest person in the world. “Is that your dad?” James Franco laughed. “In a way he is, I guess. Parenthood is so – circumscribed by biology in this culture. And really, since what I am is an artist, really, more than a human, and since he is an artist, more than a human, really, why can it not be said that our relationship was more of a parenting relationship than the one I had with the people to whom I am attached by mere biology? Now, if biology was the ideology I adhered to, certainly, by that measure I would have to allow that he is NOT my father.” All of a sudden he looked really excited. “You know what’s intense? In a way, Gus and I are like – husband and wife. And “Milk” is our gay baby.” He got very excited. “That is such a good idea for an art installation! A series of photographs, fake documentary style. Gus and I meet, we fall in love, and we have a baby, he gives birth to it, I think, not me – well. Wait. Maybe it should be me. Yeah. An image of me pregnant would be so super intense, and really open up a lot of intense dialogue about gender, whereas if an older, gay less gorgeous person was pregnant, it wouldn’t be as interesting. Don’t you think?” “I guess,” I said. James Franco went on. “And so I give birth to a baby, but the baby is a movie, not a baby. That is seriously twisted. A movie being a baby, but really being a movie? Don’t you think?” “I guess,” I said. “Do you mind if I rinse this stuff out of my hair?” I don’t even think he heard me. I went in the bathroom. He kept talking. “And the baby-as-movie goes to pre-school, and high school, and to college. And meanwhile, we get divorced and the judge puts the baby-move on the witness stand to see who it wants to live with.” I came out of the bathroom. “And this is all in photographs? Why not fake documentary?” He frowned again and snorted. “I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced the way that the medium of photography, particularly black and white, legitimizes the unreal,” he said. “In fact, I am pretty sure you haven’t, or you wouldn’t have suggested that.” All of a sudden, I was really, really tired. As I said earlier, I definitely wasn’t wasted, so I think it’s more likely that I got really tired because the smell of my conditioner made me tired, not because some weird combination of alcohol and drugs had made me unusually animated and then left me suddenly drained of energy and any sense of self-will. I lay down. “Anyway,” he said, “Not only does photography interact with our memory in a way that makes us think we are re-experiencing things we have never in fact truly experienced, it also, and this is probably even more crucial for this story, adds a shimmer of cold terror to the uncanny and that,” he smashed his hand down on the coffee table, “is my project as an artist.” Then he got serious. He came over and stroked my hair. “I want to reward you for inspiring me. This is the best idea I have ever had, and I never would have had it about you. Can I reward you by reading you a story?” He said it was called A Perfect Day for Bananafish. I don’t remember very much about it, except at one point, he stopped reading and started to explain to me that it should really be called something else gross and dumb because of something about the fish being phallic which personally I feel like he made up. I can’t really remember. I was so tired, but somewhere, a little voice piped up and let me know there was actually a really brilliant way to get through the next hour of my life without having to walk all the way back to my room, and I was like, “If I have sex with you, will you stop telling me your ideas?” I am a lady, so I don’t want to tell you what happened next. But I think it’s messed up that the world is always waiting for me to fail. I mean, has James Franco ever come out with a series of photographs “documenting” his “relationship” and “parenthood” with Gus Van Zandt? No. He hasn’t. And it’s because of me. So leave me alone. I did you all a big favor. _\*In Sarah Miller’s imagination. She also writes for_ [_NewYorker_](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/shouts/sarah-miller)_.com and_ [_The Hairpin_](http://thehairpin.com/tag/sarah-miller/)_, among other outlets, and has published two novels,_ [Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn](http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Gideon-Rayburn-Sarah-Miller/dp/0312333765/ref=la%5FB001HMN6OW%5F1%5F1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1402432339&sr=1-1) _and_ [The Other Girl](http://www.amazon.com/Other-Girl-Midvale-Academy-Novel/dp/031233415X)_._ ## Transcript [00:00] On Watch What Happens Live, Lindsay Lohan confirmed [00:04] that much talked about sex list, a list of her alleged [00:08] sexual partners is real. That was actually my fifth step [00:12] in AA at Betty Ford. And someone when I was moving [00:15] during the OWN show must have taken a photo of it. [00:18] And so that's a really personal thing. Wow. And that's, [00:20] it's really unfortunate. The list featuring many famous [00:24] names was published by In Touch Weekly in March, [00:27] though the outlet told a very different story of how it [00:31] was obtained. Saying its source got the list when Lohan [00:35] left it behind at the Beverly Hills Hotel after giggling [00:38] with girlfriends. Quote, she was trying to impress her [00:41] friends with the list and then tossed it aside. Now [00:45] Lohan has told her side of the story. And she'll discuss [00:48] the scandal even more in the season finale of Lindsay [00:51] on own Sunday. And while it sounds like the big reveal [00:56] was hard for Lindsay, she did say on Instagram that [00:59] she had so much fun on the show. Thanks for [01:01] watching. 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