Former cast and crew members of One Tree Hill have penned a joint statement in support of Audrey Wauchope, a writer on the 2003 series who recently accused show-runner Mark Schwahn of sexual harassment. The cast members supporting her include stars like Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton, who wrote that Schwahn’s alleged behavior was an “open secret” not only targeted at the writing staff.
“Many of us were, to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally,” the statement reads, per Variety. “More than one of us is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress. Many of us were put in uncomfortable positions and had to swiftly learn to fight back, sometimes physically, because it was made clear to us that the supervisors in the room were not the protectors they were supposed to be.”
Wauchope made her allegations on Twitter on Saturday, though she did not specifically name Schwahn. She alleged instead that she had worked for a show-runner who often touched people without consent.
“He pet hair. He massaged shoulders,” she wrote. “I know he did more but not to me so they’re not my stories to share.”
She claimed that the show-runner specifically said he hired female writers based on looks, not talent, and that he also allegedly skipped the staff’s mandatory sexual-harassment meeting. “I don’t blame the studio, I doubt they knew,” Wauchope wrote. “I blame a system that allows one person to have so much power they can do whatever they want.”
In the open letter, members of the hit CW teen drama’s team said they “have chosen this forum to stand together in support of Audrey Wauchope and one another . . . Mark Schwahn’s behavior over the duration of the filming of One Tree Hill was something of an ‘open secret.’”
The letter continues: “Many of us were spoken to in ways that ran the spectrum from deeply upsetting, to traumatizing, to downright illegal. And a few of us were put in positions where we felt physically unsafe. More than one woman on our show had her career trajectory threatened.”
Though the group largely stayed silent publicly, they said they had “open channels of communication in our friend group and in our industry,” because they wanted the show to be a safe space for fans, “some of whom have said that the show quite literally saved their lives. But the reality is, no space is safe when it has an underlying and infectious cancer.”
The letter was signed by these cast members: Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton, Bethany Joy Lenz, Danneel Harris, Michaela McManus, Kate Voegele, Daphne Zuniga, India de Beaufort, Bevin Prince, Jana Kramer, Shantel VanSanten, and Allison Munn, as well as these crew members: Wauchope, Rachel Specter, Jane Beck, Tarin Squillante, Cristy Koebley, and JoJo Stephens.
Representatives for Schwahn have not yet responded to Vanity Fair’s request for comment.
