James Franco and Ashley Benson were rumored to be dating a couple of months ago, but the rumors came to a halt when Franco indirectly denied the rumors through his blog post on Huffington Post.

Ashley Benson and James Franco at SXSW
However, in recent light of the many Spring Breakers premieres that have been occuring the past couple of weeks, new light has been shed on the status of their relationship. Franco and Benson may have denied they're dating, but that desn't explain the Huffington Post report that stated that they were both caught holding hands at the SXSW premiere of Spring Breakers. Of course, it's a 'platonic' friendship and friends are allowed to hold hands, sure.
However, Lainey at Lainey Gossip also has an interesting piece about the picture, that was circulating of Benson and Franco holding hands, and she notes that the posture that Benson and Franco have is a lot closer than those of two friends.

James Franco and Ashley Benson at TIFF for Spring Breakers
Either way, they're either extremely close, or they've managed to keep us in the dark for the past couple of months. With the increase in publicity that Spring Breakers will be bringing its cast, there's a chance we may find out the truth in the next few weeks.
The cast of Spring Breakers after a screening









































