Bijou Phillips has issued a heartfelt apology to Daniel Franzese.
A day after the Mean Girls actor blasted the actress for how she treated him on the set of the movie Bully, Phillips has acknowledged that she acted inappropriately.
In a lengthy Facebook post over the weekend, Franzese came right out and said Phillips “body shamed me and ridiculed me about my sexuality and physically assaulted me” during filming of the aforementioned 2001 movie.
He said that Phillips consistently mocked him in front of others for being bisexual.
“I was scared and closeted and feared for my job,” Franzese wrote, adding:
“It started with a lot of eye rolling whenever we spoke but escalated when we did a cast shoot for the poster.
“As we were shooting she kept loudly saying ‘Are you gay?!’ and laughing while the producers and photographer did nothing to stop her.”
Franzese went on to castigate Phillips for giving him a hard time during a shirtless scene, which he admits was “an extremely vulnerable moment for me.”
It should perhaps be noted that Phillips is married to Danny Masterson, who faces rape accusations of his own.
In response to all Franzese wrote on Facebook about her, Phillips has admitted she mistreated her former co-star back in the day.
She confessed as much in a message to TMZ.
“I want to write to address what Daniel has said, Phillips said to TMZ, continuing:
“I don’t remember that time well, those years are a blur. I was a teenager and reckless in my behavior.
“I know Daniel to be a trustworthy and honest person, and to find out through social media that I was not the friend I thought I was to him made me so sad.”
Better later than never for this sort of mea culpa, right?
Concludes Phillips:
“I am so mortified by this behavior and have contacted Daniel and apologized to him privately.
“I am not and never have been homophobic. I have nothing but love for the LGBTQ community and Daniel.”
In light of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, more and more men and women have come forward with how they were victims of sexual harassment or misconduct.
We’d have to imagine this is what inspired Franzese to write so candidly on Facebook of his interactions with Phillips.
He then Tweeted on Sunday night that he has received and accepted her apology.
