Busy Philipps says James Franco assaulted her while filming Freaks and Geeks

Busy Philipps.
(Image credit: Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images)

In her new memoir This Will Only Hurt a Little, actress Busy Philipps says her Freaks and Geeks co-star James Franco physically assaulted her while they were filming a scene.

The book is out Oct. 16, and Yahoo Entertainment reports that in it, Philipps writes that Franco was a "f—ing bully" on the set. Philipps says she was directed to gently hit Franco on the chest while delivering a line, which set him off. "He grabbed both my arms and screamed in my face, 'DON'T EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN!'" she said. "And he threw me to the ground. Flat on my back. Wind knocked out of me."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.