James Franco’s grilling at the hands of Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers shows how much late-night has changed in the #MeToo era

The Ringer

“In previous eras,” says Alison Herman, “a host like Meyers would be much more unambiguously on the side of his fellow public figure rather than his skeptical audience. Smoothing over scandal, after all, is part of the image-burnishing job. The fact that late-night hosts are even in this position speaks to the growing reach of Hollywood’s anti-harassment groundswell, which began with Weinstein, a man whose influence had finally waned enough for accusations not to be immediately suppressed. The movement has since spread to encompass celebrities still enjoying the spotlight and the protection it affords — so much so that they’re asked to answer for alleged indiscretions at the same time as they’re attending fancy galas and fronting multibillion-dollar enterprises.”