If you grew up in the noughties you’d be well aware of the iconic TV series One Tree Hill. It was full of juicy drama, high school scandals and most importantly, Chad Michael Murray dreamy smile.
However, behind closed doors, it wasn’t all roses and sunshine according to Sophia Bush.
Appearing on Ashley Graham’s podcast Pretty Big Deal, Sophia Bush – who played Brooke Davis on the show – revealed how she was sexualised in her teenage role.
“I fought a lot with the writers,” she said. “I was sort of unaware of the power dynamics at play and I would just say things. I’d be like, ‘I’m not doing this.’”
“There was this sort of really weird thing. You look back at it, at the time, I didn’t realise how inappropriate it was, but again, this was a long time ago. I remember my boss kept writing scenes for me to be in my underwear.”
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“And I was like, ‘I’m not doing this, this is inappropriate. Like, I don’t think this is what we should be teaching 16-year-old girls to be doing, and to be seeking validation this way.”
Bush went on to say that her boss would justify the character’s behaviour by telling her, “well you’re not 16.”
“And I said, ‘But I’m playing 16, and if you want somebody to do it so badly, get somebody else to do it,” she said. “And he literally said to me, ‘Well you’re the one with the big f*cking rack everybody wants to see.’ And I was like, ‘What!? Well, I’m not doing it.”
Bush said she even wore a turtleneck in an episode of One Tree Hill, “just sort of to be spiteful.”
In her interview with Ashley Graham, Sophia Bush also revealed that One Tree Hill producers would take advantage of “people’s personal lives” including her failed marriage to co-star Chad Michael Murray, and “deeply personal things” would wind up in storylines.
Credit: The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved
In 2017, Bush and her co-stars Hilarie Burton, Bethany Joy Lenz and Jana Kramer signed a letter accusing One Tree Hill showrunner Mark Schwahn of sexual harassment.
The most important thing is that Sophia Bush has found her voice and is speaking openly and honestly about her struggles during the show. Keeping the conversation open is the first step to encouraging real change to make sure this never happens again.
If you, or anyone you know is struggling with issues related to sexual abuse, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or 1800 RESPECT.
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