Hollywood star James Franco is reportedly keeping a low profile after five women accused him of sexual misconduct but Sharon Osbourne does not believe that the allegations should keep him away from the Academy Awards in March.

"F**k off, he's the best. You kidding?" The Talk star told TMZ when it caught up with her leaving LA restaurant Craig's with co-host Julie Chen.

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While Chen remained tight-lipped, Osbourne made it clear that she was in Franco's corner when it came to the sex abuse allegations.

"So what, he's done nothing," she said. "So what if he got his dick out in a car, big deal," she said in reference to actress Violet Paley's claims that Franco pressured her into performing oral sex on him when they dated in 2016.

In a Twitter thread Paley wrote: "I was talking to him, all of a sudden his penis was out. I got really nervous, and I said, 'Can we do this later?' He was kind of nudging my head down and I just didn't want him to hate me so I did it."

Asked whether Franco should avoid the Oscars because of the allegations, Osbourne said; "F**k no, he should go with his d**k out."

The Franco claims were the latest in a growing catalogue of complaints about male Hollywood stars after producer Harvey Weinstein's empire came crashing down in October when he was hit with a slew of allegations of sexual harassment and assault from more than 30 women. Rose McGowan, Cara Delevingne, Kate Beckinsale and Gwyneth Paltrow were among the victims who outed him.

Critics Choice Awards

Their claims cast a spotlight on Hollywood's seedy underbelly and opened the floodgates with more victims of sexual assault speaking out against the perpetrators.

Franco, 39, skipped the 2018's Critics Choice Awards ceremony on 11 January where he won the Best Actor award for his role in The Disaster Artist.

He had addressed the controversy hours earlier on Late Night with Seth Meyers by saying the claims of predatory behaviour were "not accurate".

"In my life, I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I've done. I have to do that to maintain my wellbeing. I do it whenever I know that there is something wrong or needs to be changed, I make it a point to do it," he said.

"The things that I heard that were on Twitter are not accurate but I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice because they didn't have a voice for so long.

"I don't want to shut them down in any way. It's a good thing and I support it."