“I think the worst of what he did was hidden…” The Dark Side Of ‘One Tree Hill’
One Tree Hill is one of my all-time favourite early ‘00s shows, alongside Veronica Mars and Gilmore Girls.
The show gave me the powerful but vulnerable Brooke Davis (Sophia Bush), the teenage love story of Haley James (Bethany Joy Lenz) and Nathan Scott (James Lafferty), and the tortured artistic soul Peyton Sawyer (Hilarie Burton Morgan). Oh, and Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) was there too, but he was kinda the worst.
The hold Peyton’s dark and brooding quotes had on me as a teen was insane, and yes, it probably contributed to my unrealistic expectations when it came to love.
Characters Nathan Scott, Peyton Sawyer, Lucas Scott, Haley James Scott and Brooke Davis. Image credit: WB, One Tree Hill
If you’ve never seen the show, I ate this s**t up: “At this moment, there are 6,470,818,671 people in the world. Some are running scared. Some are coming home. Some tell lies to make it through the day. Others are just now facing the truth. Some are evil men, that war with good. And some are good, struggling with evil. Six billion people in the world. Six billion souls. And sometimes, all you need is one.”
And while many think it “jumped the shark” in Season 6, when a dog literally ate Dan Scott’s heart before his transplant, I stayed faithful right up until the series wrapped up with its ninth and final season.
But one thing that people don’t seem to be as familiar with is the dark side of One Tree Hill. Two of the main characters exited after Season 6 – Peyton and Lucas – and many fans assumed Hilarie Burton left over a pay dispute. However, the real reason was supposedly much, much worse.
I’ll break it down for you, but it does contain themes of sexual harassment. If you want to avoid this topic, click away now.
Characters Lucas Scott, Nathan Scott, Haley James Scott and Brooke Davis. Image credit: WB, One Tree Hill
Everything changed when two staff writers accused the creator and showrunner Mark Schwahn of engaging in an inappropriate and disgusting manner. But this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein and Rachel Specter unlocked Pandora’s box in 2017, after finding the courage to come forward due to the “Me Too” movement. In a lengthy Twitter thread, Audrey explained how their first job made them feel “demoralized and confused”, claimed the showrunner passed naked photos of an actress around the writer’s room, and committed other horrific acts.
And though Audrey and Rachel didn’t name anyone, the writing pair have only ever been staff writers on two shows, Cougartown and One Tree Hill. Audrey told her followers that she wasn’t speaking about Cougartown, calling the men on that show “aces”.
Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton Morgan replied to Audrey, sharing their support and rallying together the women that worked on the show.
Here’s Audrey’s Twitter thread in full:
In light of the Andrew Kreisberg reporting, a couple thoughts about my first writing job that I’ve wanted to say for years but have never had the guts to. When I was 29 my writing partner @RachelSpecter and I were hired as staff writers.
— Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein (@audreyalison) November 12, 2017
To say we were excited was an understatement. To say we left that job demoralized and confused is also an understatement. One of the 1st things we were told was that the showrunner hired female writers on the basis of their looks. That’s why you’re here – he wants to fuck you.
— Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein (@audreyalison) November 12, 2017
Rachel had been actress previous to writing and was told that he used to talk about her in the room before we were hired. So that’s a safe room to enter as staff writers. Imagine what that does to ones psyche.
— Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein (@audreyalison) November 12, 2017
Imagine feeling for the rest of your career that you’re possibly an imposter – that maybe just maybe you’re only here because you’re a body, not a mind. It creeps into your thoughts and keeps you up at night and makes you wonder.
— Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein (@audreyalison) November 12, 2017
Moving on. The staff sat on couches. Female writers would try to get the spot where the showrunner wouldn’t sit as to not be touched. Often men would help out by sitting next to him, thus protecting the women.
— Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein (@audreyalison) November 12, 2017
Sometimes we wouldn’t luck out and he’d just squeeze his disgusting body in between us and put his arms around us, grinning. He pet hair. He massaged shoulders. I know he did more but not to me so they’re not my stories to share.
— Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein (@audreyalison) November 12, 2017
Ever since then I just state “I don’t like to be touched.” This often makes me sound angry or not warm. It’s just that I don’t know anther way to make it clear I don’t enjoy your unwanted touch.
— Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein (@audreyalison) November 12, 2017
Ever since then I just state “I don’t like to be touched.” This often makes me sound angry or not warm. It’s just that I don’t know anther way to make it clear I don’t enjoy your unwanted touch.
— Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein (@audreyalison) November 12, 2017
Moving on. The day before my writing partner left for her wedding he closed the door of his office and asked her if she really wanted to go through with it. Maybe he could have a shot? Hahahaha we said. That’s crazy. He’s crazy. NO. He’s abusive.
— Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein (@audreyalison) November 12, 2017
He’s a man in a position of power who was allowed to run a television show for years where this behavior continuously went on. I don’t blame the men on that staff – I truly believe they were also in a way victims of psychological abuse and didn’t know what to do.
— Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein (@audreyalison) November 12, 2017
Moving on. The day the studio lawyers came to give the sexual harassment seminar many of us had pointed questions we were going to ask. This will be the time we can speak and he will know we know! Guess who didn’t show up?
— Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein (@audreyalison) November 12, 2017
That’s right. The show runner did not attend the mandatory sexual harassment meeting. I don’t blame the studio, I doubt they knew. I blame a system that allows one person to have so much power they can do whatever they want.
— Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein (@audreyalison) November 12, 2017
I’m furious and sad and everything else for the women who have sat on that couch next to that man. And I’m furious and sad and everything else that years later I don’t feel safe to be able to do anything real about this and that it seems to be happening all over this town.
— Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein (@audreyalison) November 12, 2017
I write all this to say that there are trickle down psychological effects to all this bullshit and the town is littered with the collateral damage of abusers who have been given free reign. If you’re sitting on one of these staffs please know whatever you are feeling is real.
— Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein (@audreyalison) November 12, 2017
Characters Rachel Gatina and Cooper Lee. Image credit: WB, One Tree Hill
The open letter accusing Mark Schwahn of sexual harassment signed by 18 women.
The cast and crew rallied around Audrey and Rachel and published an open letter in Variety. The full letter is below:
“To Whom It May Concern,
All of the female cast members of One Tree Hill have chosen this forum to stand together in support of Audrey Wauchope and one another. To use terminology that has become familiar as the systemic reality of sexual harassment and assault has come more and more to light, Mark Schwahn’s behavior over the duration of the filming of One Tree Hill was something of an “open secret.” Many of us were, to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally. 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. 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.
The through line in all of this was, and still is, our unwavering support of and faith in one another. We confided in each other. We set up safe spaces to talk about his behavior and how to handle it. To warn new women who joined our ranks. We understood that a lot of it was orchestrated in ways that kept it out of sight for the studio back home. We also understood that no one was fully unaware. The lack of action that has been routine, the turning of the other cheek, is intolerable. We collectively want to echo the calls of women everywhere that vehemently demand change, in all industries.
Many of us were told, during filming, that coming forward to talk about this culture would result in our show being canceled and hundreds of lovely, qualified, hard-working, and talented people losing their jobs. This is not an appropriate amount of pressure to put on young girls. Many of us since have stayed silent publicly but had very open channels of communication in our friend group and in our industry, because we want Tree Hill to remain the place “where everything’s better and everything’s safe” for our 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. We have worked at taking our power back, making the conventions our own, and relishing in the good memories. But there is more work to be done.
We are all deeply grateful for Audrey’s courage. For one another. And for every male cast mate and crew member who has reached out to our group of women to offer their support these last few days. They echo the greater rallying cry that must lead us to change: Believe Women. We are all in this together.
With Love and Courage,
The Cast, Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton, Bethany Joy Lenz, Danneel Harris, Michaela McManus, Kate Voegele, Daphne Zuniga, India DeBeaufort, Bevin Prince, Jana Kramer, Shantel Van Santen, and Allison Munn. And Brave Crew, Audrey Wauchope, Rachel Specter, Jane Beck, Tarin Squillante, Cristy Koebley, JoJo Stephens. And All the rest of the Women We Worked With Who Are Finding Their Voices as We Speak.”
The cast of The Royals. Image credit: E!, The Royals
The fallout around Mark Schwahn’s TV series The Royals.
After the allegations surfaced, Lionsgate suspended the One Tree Hill creator from his new TV series The Royals, but after 25 women from his new show signed a letter in response, accusing him of “repeated unwanted sexual harassment”, he was fired from the show.
Aussie actress Alexandra Park, who played Princess Eleanor in The Royals (and is now married to One Tree Hill’s James Lafferty) said she had “been exposed” to his “reprehensible behaviour”.
“In the past, people were afraid to come forward in these situations because they were terrified of losing an opportunity so hard to come by, an opportunity that meant so much to them. I am proud and grateful that today, we can take a different path,” she wrote on Twitter.
Characters Peyton Sawyer, Haley James Scott and Brooke Davis. Image credit: WB, One Tree Hill
Hilarie Burton recalls years of alleged harassment and assault.
Hilarie seemed destined to be a star, but once she exited OTH, she seemingly disappeared from the industry altogether. It turns out that the abuse she allegedly suffered while playing Peyton, greatly affected her life, and career as a working actor.
In an interview with Variety, Hilarie detailed how she believed Mark began to see her as “his muse” during Season 3. She’s detailed multiple instances of alleged abuse here, but there’s one that has always stuck in my mind.
During Season 4, Hilarie and Mark ended up travelling in a limo from Raleigh to Wilmington in North Carolina, where the show was filmed. According to Hilarie, that 2-hour limo ride was anything but pleasant.
She claims that Mark knew about her dream to become a producer, so allowed her to listen on a call with the CW president Dawn Ostroff, as he pitched the five-year time jump after Season 4 ended.
“I’m leaning in listening, and when it’s Dawn Ostroff’s turn to talk, he just leans over and starts kissing me,” she claimed. “I push him off, but I can’t say anything, because he’s on the phone fighting for our show to stay on the air. I’m just in this position where I’m thinking, ‘You’ve got to take it, Hil. Just laugh it off. You’ll get to Wilmington in 45 minutes.’”
According to Hilarie, she was offered a raise if she’d sign on for Season 7, but she refused to stay. Instead, she decided to stop auditioning, and was determined to only work for showrunners that she had a relationship with – causing her long-term agent to drop her when she didn’t want to get locked into another TV contract.
“The fear of being forced into another one of these situations was crippling,” she told Variety. “I never wanted to be the lead female on any show ever, ever, ever again.”
Characters Lucas Scott and Karen Roe. Image credit: WB, One Tree Hill
Why do Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz continue to talk about One Tree Hill?
Sophia, Hilarie and Bethany often talk about the One Tree Hill allegations on their podcast Drama Queens, and in April 2023, Hilarie revealed why she will continue to share her experience publicly.
“There was an actress who was on our show who I recently touched base with, and she was quieter during all the Me Too stuff,” Hilarie said. “She said, ‘I’m always scared that he’s ghostwriting.’ Because he was never held accountable. Because the executive producers of our show never publicly said, ‘We won’t do business with him anymore. We’re so sorry to you girls’.”
“Someone is giving him ghostwriting work somewhere, and there’s this fear that we’re going to walk onto a set one day and be confronted with that… it’s the boogeyman in the closet. To talk about it over and over again, I am making a commitment to continue talking about it so that other showrunners don’t operate that way and so he’s got no safe passage, like a ship,” she finished.
Characters Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer. Image credit: WB, One Tree Hill
Has Mark Schwahn addressed the allegations?
The One Tree Hill showrunner hasn’t addressed the allegations or released a statement publicly, and doesn’t appear to have been working since he was fired from The Royals. He also doesn’t seem to have a presence on social media.
How Moira Kelly ‘saved’ Hilarie Burton.
Hilarie, Sophia and Joy were extremely close when filming began, but were apparently driven apart during One Tree Hill after being fed misinformation about each other. Lucky for us fans, they’ve reunited and are making up for lost time, and are taking the power back with their Drama Queens podcast.
The trio have been rewatching OTH, interviewing co-stars and sharing some behind-the-scenes goss. In one episode, Hilarie thanked Moira Kelly, who played Karen Roe on the show, for giving her “permission” to “run” from her nightmare.
“Moira, this is the first time I’ve seen you since I left the show,” Hilarie began. “I’ve wanted to tell you this for years and years and years, but in the last episode of the show, everyone in my world was telling me, ‘You can’t leave. You can’t leave’. I didn’t direct because I didn’t want to be on set all day because it was so bad. You came and you sat next to me and you started off by just joking, and you were like, ‘What’s going on?’”
“I was like, ‘I don’t know what to do,’ and you said, ‘Run… there’s so many chapters in life and this is just one’. I so valued your opinion of me and of our business… it’s like, ‘Oh, my God. You don’t know that you saved my life’. I don’t know what would have happened to me if I stayed.”
Queen Moira got our girl Hilarie outta there and I’m forever grateful.
Characters Lucas Scott and Brooke Davis. Image credit: WB, One Tree Hill
Sophia Bush on the “open secret” about Mark Schwahn’s alleged behaviour.
During a podcast clip that recently popped up on my TikTok feed, Sophia described some more of his alleged behaviour and it actually makes me feel ill. Keep in mind that the cast were young and inexperienced – for many, it was their first job.
“I think the worst of what he did was hidden… he was not embarrassed to be handsy, to make inappropriate commentary, to pull people into side rooms, for conversations,” Sophia claimed.
@realifestudios♬ Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2 – PinkPantheress & Ice Spice
Apparently, a writer also told Sophia that the showrunner kept a board of photos in his office, with all the young women in lingerie. The wardrobe supervisor, who was a woman, had taken the photos to get the characters’ looks approved, but they were never supposed to be used for anything else. When Sophia heard this story, she said it felt “super violating”.
It wasn’t as simple as just telling him to stop his alleged inappropriate behaviour, because he was in “control of 250 people’s jobs and livelihoods”, making it “hard to force [him] to listen”.
“It was interesting for us you know when the show was over, really to hear that it was no secret in the industry either, and he kept working, as they all do,” she added.
If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. 13Yarn is also available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in need of support.
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Image credits: WB, One Tree Hill, E!, The Royals