Busy Philipps Claims James Franco Assaulted Her Years Ago On Set

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Busy Philipps’ Memoir Details Alleged Assault By Co-Star James Franco

In the pages of her upcoming memoir This Will Only Hurt a Little, Busy Philipps is retelling an incident where co-star James Franco allegedly assaulted her years ago on the set of Freaks and Geeks.

According to reports from Yahoo Entertainment, The actress recalls the assault that allegedly took place after her character was scripted to gently hit Franco in the chest before she delivered a line. Once they started doing the scene, Franco then reportedly broke character and got upset at Philipps before pushing her 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 the set of the series was absolutely horrified by the incident, and she  goes on to call Franco a “f***ing bully” during their time on the show together. She continues to write that her co-star eventually apologized the next day, but only after being coerced to by directors and producers, and then went on to be unpunished for the altercation.

Busy Philipps has previously opened up about how much her and Franco disliked each other while starring in the dramatic comedy series nearly 20 years ago. “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 confided in Andy Cohen years ago.

This newly resurfaced incident follows the allegations of “sexually exploitative behavior” that stand against Franco by five different women. As of now, the actor has denied all allegations against him and still maintains his recurring role on HBO’s The Deuce.