Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesOscar writer Bruce Vilanch may have defended James Franco in one sense (saying he wasn't high during this year's Oscars), but in an interview with New York Magazine, Bruce implied James may have had too much on his plate to take on the hosting gig.
"He has so many balls in the air, he didn't get to town till Thursday before the show on Sunday," Vilanch said. "So there was a lot of communication beforehand. But he didn't get there."
So how did James respond? And how did Bruce respond to that? Well...
Among the things Bruce said in his interview was that James and Anne Hathaway "had to be serviced" and essentially said picking straight-up actors may have been the wrong choice:
"The only people who know how to host those shows are people who get up onstage every night and say, 'Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. A funny thing happened...' Or people like Bette [Midler] who get up and sing all night and tell stories."
Shortly after Vilanch's interview went viral, James tweeted (and then deleted), "Bruce let me down" along with a picture of the two backstage with his trademark graffiti over it.
"James f---ed up the Oscars," the graffiti read. "Trust me, I know comedy. I mean, come on, I write for Bette Midler!"
But like most things now days, this was the media's fault.
Bruce sent James a message saying he was "JOKING" with the guy and that when the interviewer got "vehement about how bad" Franco was, Vilanch said he defended the star.
"I don't know what version, what context you read these remarks in, but believe me I would never diss you...you should never take the gutter press too seriously...if you heard the tape you would hear a much lighter reading than the one they gave."
All seems to be forgiven because Franco did his usual graffiti over the message, "Thanks Bruce, sorry for reading those stupid blogs, love James."
Hmmm, is Jimmy being a little overly sensitive here, or was Bruce in bad form taking this public in the first place?