James Franco Says He Loves Seth Rogen, Despite End of Working Relationship

James Franco is speaking out at length for the first time since a wave of sexual misconduct allegations were leveled against him -- saying he's spent the last few years working on himself -- and making one thing clear ... he's still got love for Seth Rogen.

Franco spoke with SiriusXM's "The Jess Cagle Podcast" Wednesday, and talked everything from the allegations to his career and his fallout with Rogen.

If you hadn't heard ... Seth said in an interview this year he had no plans to work with Franco in light of the allegations made against his former friend. To that, James told Jess, "Of course, it was hurtful in context, but I get it, you know, he had to answer for me cause I was silent."

Rogen's comments seemed to really sit with Franco, given how close the two were, "We didn't have one fight for 20 years. Not one fight. He was my absolute closest work friend, collaborator."

While the pair don't have any projects lined up for the future, they've starred in massive movies together, including "Pineapple Express," "The Interview," "Sausage Party" and "The Disaster Artist."