In her upcoming memoir This Will Only Hurt a Little, Busy Philipps is retelling an incident when James Franco allegedly assaulted her on the set of Freaks and Geeks.
As verified byYahoo Entertainment, Philipps recalls the assault taking place after her character was scripted to gently hit Franco in the chest before delivering a line. Franco then reportedly broke character and got upset at his co-star before pushing Philipps to the ground.
“He grabbed both my arms and screamed in my face, ‘DON’T EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN!’” she writes in the book. “And he threw me to the ground. Flat on my back. Wind knocked out of me.”
Per her telling, everyone on set was horrified by the incident and she called the actor a “fucking bully” during their time on the show together. Philipps writes that Franco apologized, but only after being coerced to by directors and producers as he went unpunished for the altercation.
The actress previously opened up about how much her and Franco disliked each other while starring in the dramatic comedy series. “James Franco and I really didn't get along when we were on Freaks And Geeks, we were 19 and we really, really disliked each other,” she told Andy Cohen two years ago.
“We like each other now, as adults, but as kids we really did not get along,” she later added.
This resurfaced incident follows the allegations of "sexually exploitative behavior" against Franco by five women. The actor maintains his recurring role on HBO’s The Deuce and has denied all allegations against him.
