Busy Philipps Says James Franco 'Deserves' to Be Called Out for Allegedly Bullying Her on 'Freaks and Geeks' Set

Busy Philipps thinks James Franco "deserves" to be called out for allegedly throwing her to the ground on the set of "Freaks and Geeks" when they were teenagers.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published a day after an excerpt from her upcoming memoir, "This Will Only Hurt a Little," made headlines because it detailed her previous claim that her co-star "shoved" her to the ground when they were 19.

"I know people are going to pull from this that I'm f--king hard on James Franco. Whatever, he deserves it. But I think the person I'm hardest on is myself," she said while discussing her decision to write about her personal struggles in the book hitting shelves Oct. 16.

"It wasn't even outrageous," she said of the on-set scuffle with Franco. "At the time, 19 and with my first professional acting job, I was under the impression that this was just the way things were. James and I have talked about it over the years. At one point he apologized to me. I was always acutely aware of my expendability, and so I felt I needed to never complain, always show up on time and not be difficult. If someone else was being difficult, it was my job to be the easy one or figure out a way to soothe the situation."

In the book, Philipps calls Franco a "f--cking bully" and writes, "He grabbed both my arms and screamed in my face, 'DON'T EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN!' And he threw me to the ground. Flat on my back. Wind knocked out of me."

The actress says the outburst wasn't scripted, but the action that sparked it was. Philipps writes that the script they were shooting called for her character to nudge Franco in the chest, but he took it personally.

Philipps says her co-star eventually apologized at the behest of the episode's director and producers. She first told the story, with less detail, on a 2016 episode of "Watch What Happens Live."

Franco's reps did not respond to TooFab's request for comment on the incident.

The actress, who is about to take on late-night TV four nights a week on E!'s "Busy Tonight," also discussed her decision to use Instagram to share that she had been raped at age 14.

"Like most things with my Instagram, I don't think about it," she told THR. "It's very instinctual. I was getting ready, and I turned on the hearings right when Dr. [Christine Blasey] Ford started. I truly had a massive panic attack, as I think a lot of Americans did. I have struggled with this thing for 25 years, and I guess I just wanted to add my name to the chorus of people saying that they believe her and that what she's doing is so incredibly brave."

"Busy Tonight" premieres on E! on Oct. 28.