The former New York University professor who slapped James Franco with a defamation suit last year has settled the case against the “127 Hours” actor, sources told The Post yesterday.
In the spring of 2010, José Angel Santana gave Franco a “D” for playing hooky 12 out of the 14 times Santana’s film-directing class met that semester.
Franco then told reporters at a premiere for his movie “The Broken Tower” that Santana was “awful,” adding, “I didn’t feel like I needed to waste my time with a bad teacher.”
Santana filed the defamation suit in Manhattan Supreme Court, seeking unspecified monetary damages.
But yesterday, Santana’s attorney, Matthew Blit, filed court papers withdrawing the suit against Franco.
“The matter has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties,” Blit said.
Franco’s attorney, Jura Zibas, declined to comment.
Santana claimed that he was fired from his $70,000-a-year job at NYU because of Franco’s remarks.
In a 2012 interview with The Post, Santana described the Oscar-winning actor as a “bully,” saying:
“He uses the bully pulpit of his celebrity to punish anyone who doesn’t do his bidding.”
Santana added that he was only doing his job while other star-struck professors “bent over backwards to create a Franco-friendly environment.”