You Might Want to Rethink

James Franco's art and life are getting uncomfortably close ... 'cause the Time's Up movement is breathing down his neck on Sunset Blvd.

A new billboard recently went up in Hollywood for Franco's movie, "The Disaster Artist" -- which sits just in front of a Time's Up billboard no more than 100 yards away.

Unclear which one went up first -- it's awards season, though ... so movie promotions are popping up all over L.A. Either way, it's awkward placement.

As we reported ... Franco's been accused of sexual misconduct by at least 5 women. The accusations initially surfaced during the Golden Globes where the actor rocked a Time's Up pin.

He's now avoiding public events, such as last weekend's Critics' Choice Awards ... where he won for best actor.

Seal is under criminal investigation for sexual battery, just one week after he publicly encouraged sexual abuse victims to come forward ... but the singer denies any wrongdoing.

Actress Tracey Birdsall tells us she and Seal were neighbors in Los Angeles in the fall of 2016. She says the two developed a close friendship -- and only that -- until an incident at Seal's home. Tracey says she was in Seal's kitchen to retrieve a salad spinner she'd lent him when all of a sudden, he lunged at her.

Tracey tells us Seal forced himself on her, attempting to kiss her. She says she shouted, "What are you doing?!" and the singer replied, "I'm kissing you!"

Birdsall claims Seal then began to belittle her for what she was wearing (a tank top and shorts) -- insinuating she was asking for it -- and he began to grope her breasts. She says she demanded he stop.

Tracey tells us Seal then invited her to sit on the couch next to him ... she says she was in shock and complied. Birdsall claims Seal once again began to make fun of what she was wearing and groped her again. Tracey says she left shortly after that and did not have contact with Seal again.

Birdsall says it wasn't until she saw Seal's comments about Oprah and Harvey Weinstein -- where he encouraged women to share their own stories of sexual misconduct -- that she decided to report it to the cops.

A source with the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. confirms a report was taken Saturday for sexual battery ... the incident is under investigation.

HLN anchor Ashleigh Banfield skewered the woman who publicly attacked Aziz Ansari, saying that she has sullied the #MeToo movement and her remedy was simply to get up and leave his apartment.

Ashleigh called the anonymous accuser's attack "appalling," mocking her comment that the date was the worst night of her life. The anchor said her sexual encounter with Aziz was not sexual assault or harassment ... it was simply an unpleasant date.

President Trump's apparently more worried about his hair than his image ... fully covering his noggin with an umbrella while his fam braves the elements.

45 boarded Air Force One Monday in West Palm Beach, Florida ... and trailing behind in the rain and heavy wind was 11-year-old son Barron, and First Lady Melania Trump. The Prez spent the weekend at Mar-a-Lago ... probably not taking etiquette lessons.

Awful but also not surprising ... considering Trump's notorious for doing this under the biggest spotlight. Remember when Trump left Melania for their meeting with 44 and Michelle?

Bad look, hombre.

Halle Berry wasn't getting her panties in a bunch over her wardrobe at the NAACP Image Awards this week ... which is easy when you're not wearing any.

Halle glowed on the red carpet Monday in Pasadena in a sheer dress that showed off what appeared to be the actress going commando. That's our angle, anyway.

Can't say we're complaining either -- she looks absolutely stunning at 51 ... with or without her undies.

The good news is Japan is NOT paying close attention to Hawaii anymore.

The country's public broadcaster, NHK, fired off an alert Tuesday warning a North Korean missile was incoming, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

The warning went out to everyone who had the NHK app, and read: "North Korea likely to have launched missile. The government alert: evacuate inside the building or underground." It took about 5 minutes before NHK sent out a follow-up to say it was a false alarm.

"Call Me by Your Name" star Timothee Chalamet apparently wants to say something about Woody Allen, who just directed him in a film, but he's not allowed to say it so he's donating his salary to Time's Up.

Chalamet, who starred in Allen's upcoming film, "A Rainy Day in New York," took his cue from co-star Rebecca Hall, who also pledged her salary to Time's Up.

It's apparent the stars are creating distance from their director because of Allen's relationship with "stepdaughter" Soon-Yi whom he had a relationship with and later married, and also the allegations of sexual assault involving adopted daughter Dylan Farrow.

Here's what's interesting ... Chalamet said, "I have been asked in a few recent interviews about my decision to work on a film with Woody Allen last summer ... I'm not able to answer the question directly because of contractual obligations."

Translation ... there must be some sort of anti-disparagement clause in his contract. Chalamet does not say whether he was familiar with the Dylan Farrow and Soon-Yi stories when he accepted the role.

He wrote, "I don't want to profit from my work on the film."

He's donating his salary to Time's Up, the LGBT Center in New York and RAINN, saying, "I want to be worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with the brave artists who are fighting for all people to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve."

Sean Kingston is back at the scene of the jet skiing accident that nearly took his life, and yes ... he's jet skiing again.

Sean was cruising around waterways off Miami Sunday with a few other friends ... all on their own personal watercrafts. He was recording video as he zipped around, which makes you wonder how much he's learned about safety.

You'll recall ... Sean slammed his personal watercraft into a bridge off Miami Beach in 2011. He was critically injured in the accident, and cited for "careless operation."

Sean and his "jet ski mob" tried to get DJ Khaled to come out and play, but no dice. Maybe he's heard about Sean's track record.

Michael Rapaport is not a fan of Donald Trump, we think, because he calls the Prez "Dick-stain Donald Trump," calls him a terrorist and says we need to make a citizen's arrest ... STAT.

Rapaport's trigger was Trump's comment Thursday, calling Haiti and African countries "shithole countries."

His ire is not limited to the President .... he skewers Donald Jr. and then goes after Melania, saying she's literally in bed with the devil.

Bella Thorne may get the award for the most self-absorbed celebrity after going off that the mudslides inconvenienced her because the debris is blocking her from attending her boyfriend's concert.

Thorne tweeted, then deleted this:

Rob Lowe, who lives in the area, found out about Thorne's tweet and responded, "This attitude is why people hate celebrities/Hollywood. Bella, I'm sorry you were inconvenienced. We will try to move out our dead quicker."

Patty Hearst won't be involved in any film or TV series depicting her hostage ordeal ... and, in fact, she's blasting the people behind the upcoming productions for glorifying her rape.

Patty tells us ... "Over the years I have been approached many times to discuss my ordeal, and I have answered many questions. I have spoken the truth about my experience and even wrote a 499-page book where I lay it all out, as painful as it was to relive. Each time I do, it puts me back in the nightmare which, as you might imagine, is deeply painful."

TMZ broke the story ... Hearst and her family are deeply disturbed by the upcoming docuseries based on Jeffrey Toobin's book, 'American Heiress.' Patty says she declined Toobin's interview request for his book, because she claims he referred to his book as the "last word on the subject."

Patty says, "It was offensive to me that a man would have the audacity to tell a woman that he would have the last word on her trauma." She also hates the fact Toobin's book "cites one of my kidnappers as its main source, romanticizes my rape and torture and calls my abduction a 'rollicking adventure'.”

Mark Wahlberg had producers of "All the Money in the World" "over a barrel" when he demanded $1.5 million to reshoot scenes from the movie last month, and director Ridley Scott is furious he was left in the dark and "hung out to dry" ... this according to multiple sources connected to the production.

Our sources tell us the reshoot -- triggered by the ousting of Kevin Spacey -- went down this way ... Michelle Williams was the first actor approached by a producer -- not Ridley Scott -- and she jumped at the task, saying she'd move mountains to complete the movie. She eventually agreed to do it for pennies ... she got $80 per diem and that's it.

At around the same time, we're told Ridley flew to London to see Mark and convince him to do the reshoot. Mark, we're told, agreed, but there was no discussion of money.

We're told after Wahlberg was on board, producers approached Christopher Plummer and signed him up.

Our sources say after Wahlberg committed, his reps and the 2 main financiers for the movie had discussions, and his reps said Mark "never" works for free and demanded the money, and made it clear he would not reshoot the scenes unless he got what he was after. We're told the financing guys had no choice and agreed to pay.

We're told when Ridley went public and said everyone was working for free, that was based on information he was given. We're told he feels betrayed and angry.

The complicating factor ... Wahlberg and Williams are both repped by William Morris Endeavor. We reached out to the agency for comment -- whether the agency should have given Michelle a heads-up that their other client was making a bundle while she was working for free. We got a "no comment."

This was not a great moment for Floyd Mayweather ...

The boxer was asked for his thoughts on the #MeToo movement -- and after admitting he had no idea what it means, decided to crack some jokes instead.

The question came from a Men's Health reporter: "We're asking a lot of men, in light of the #MeToo movement, how men can grow in 2018."

Floyd: "The who?"

Men's Health: "The #MeToo movement. Women speaking out about sexual assault."

Floyd: "When you say 'me too' ... when somebody is like, 'I got a Rolls-Royce, I be like 'me too.' When somebody say they got a private jet, I say, 'Me too. I got two. Me too.'"

The Men's Health reporter tried to explain it to Floyd -- saying, "This is very different" -- but it still didn't click.

Floyd: "Well, I didn't know! My Me Too movement from the beginning was whenever somebody said what they have I'm like, "me too." Somebody say they got a billion dollars, I say, "I made a billion dollars, me too."

Eventually, Floyd said sexual harassment is "not cool."

Marlon Wayans thinks H&M was doomed to run into a buzz saw by releasing ads with no vetting from black people.

We got Marlon at LAX Tuesday and asked about the backlash over H&M's racist ad showing an African-American child wearing a "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle" hoodie. His simple message ... "We ain't having that sh*t no more."

The comedian's got an easy, pragmatic fix to avoid future fiascoes like this.

An NBC exec who oversees the E! television network is calling BS on Debra Messing and others who have criticized E! for paying a female anchor less than her male counterpart.

Frances Berwick, who oversees E! and other lifestyle brands, just came out publicly and drew a line in the sand ... saying it's absolutely appropriate to pay different people different salaries.

Catt Sadler quit E! after learning her counterpart on E! News, Jason Kennedy, was making double what she made.

You'll recall on Sunday Messing challenged Giuliana Rancic, saying Catt got a raw deal.

Berwick told TV critics Tuesday, "There is a lot of misinformation out there. Catt Sadler and Jason Kennedy had different roles and therefore different salaries. Catt was focused on daytime. Jason Kennedy is on prime, evening news, plus red carpet."

She went on ... "Our employees' salaries are based on their roles and their expertise, regardless of gender. So we wish Catt well, but I hope that sets the record straight on that."

What did one horse quickly say to the other while trotting out into some snow? ... RETREAT!!!!

That's must've been what these two steeds were thinking when they were released from their stalls in Howell, Michigan -- covered in horsey coats, no less -- into some deep snow.

They didn't make it more than 20 feet before realizing how cold it was ... and then bolting back inside.

We're guessing these sturdy stallions come from Mister Ed or BoJack Horseman's family tree ... as opposed to Trigger or Little Blackie's lineage.