James Franco defends his near-nude selfies as he explains they gain him 'a lot of followers'

As a big Hollywood star, you might think James Franco would be happy with his already substantial fanbase.

But after posting a series of provocative near-nude selfies on his Instagram account, the actor has claimed he does it to increase his followers.

'It gets a lot of attention,' the Oz star told David Letterman on the Late show on Thursday night.

'It's what the people want!' James Franco defends his near-nude selfies as he chats to David Letterman on the Late Show on Thursday

Provocative: Franco admitted this selfie was 'awful'

Franco, whose recent selfies have included a swiftly deleted shirtless shot with his hand down his underpants, told the host: 'There's a lot to get straight here and I don't even know if we have time.

'But to me, it's just a fun thing. It's something I don't put a ton of thought into, but it gets a lot of attention. I have a lot of followers on Instagram.'

When Franco questioned the 36-year-old's motivation, Franco attempted to explain. 

No regrets: While Letterman appeared rather horrified by the shots, Franco saw the funny side

'I'm not putting it on billboards!' Franco told Letterman not to 'follow me' on Instagram if he didn't want to see him naked

'[It's] like that Britney Spears shaved head moment, where it's sort of like, "All right, you want me? Here you can have me, but I am going to be really ugly,"' he said.

Letterman replied: 'First of all, let me just say there is not a person in this room who hasn't had their hand in their own pants.

'I don't care what you do in your underpants, I just...'