James Franco Admits to Trying to Hook Up with Teen

James, James, James.

James Franco was all over the news this week when a conversation he had with a 17-year-old Scottish high school girl leaked online Tuesday. The Instagram chat, and their text messages, showed the 35-year-old actor sending selfies and aggressively trying to hookup with the young teen.

The "Spring Breakers" star appeared on "Live With Kelly and Michael!" Friday morning to address the controversy, Gawker reports.

"I'm guess I'm, you know, embarrassed, and I guess I'm just a model of how social media is tricky," a very awkward Franco said. "It's a way people meet each other today, but what I've learned, I guess just because I'm new to it, it's like, you don't know who is on the other end."

Franco must have missed the messages the girl sent, saying she was 17 and was visiting New York City for her 18th birthday present from her mom.

"You meet someone in person, you get a feel for them, but you don't know who you're talking to - so I used bad judgment but I learned my lesson," he said.

Franco, who couldn't look hosts Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan in the eye during his speech, said because of his "position" he has to go through the "embarrassing rituals of meeting someone," and often times those details are "published to the world." He called the situation "doubly embarrassing."

Ripa lauded the actor for handling the controversy, calling his response "perfectly acceptable" and that trying to hookup with a 17-year-old girl on Instagram "happens to everybody" and that it happens to movie stars "on a much grander scale." Strahan added that honesty is always the best policy.

Gawker, and others, speculates that Franco is drumming up attention for his upcoming film "Palo Alto," which stars Franco and Emma Roberts. In the movie, Franco plays a soccer coach who has a relationship with one of his teen players.

The convo started around the same time the trailer for "Palo Alto" was put online.

You can read the conversation Franco and the teen, Lucy Clode, had by clicking here.

Watch the Franco on "Live With Kelly and Michael!" and the trailer for "Palo Alto" below: