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Home / Entertainment

One Tree Hill showrunner Mark Schwahn accused of sexual harassment

Daily Mail
15 Nov, 2017 02:07 AM5 mins to read

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The cast of One Tree Hill. Photo / Getty Images

The cast of One Tree Hill. Photo / Getty Images

One Tree Hill cast members - including Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton - have written a letter accusing former showrunner Mark Schwahn of sexual harassment.

Audrey Wauchope, a former writer on the series, took to Twitter on Saturday accusing a showrunner, believed to be Schwahn, 51, of harassment, although she never mentioned his name, the Daily Mail reports.

On Monday, 18 women who worked on the hit show that ran from 2003-2012, wrote a letter of support for Wauchope and claimed they were "manipulated psychologically and emotionally" while working on the series, according to Variety.

What a long time coming. Your deeds will truly find you out in the end. I’m grateful for the opportunity to speak up in a time when change is possible. There is still more to say but for this moment, we thank you for your support 🙌🏼💥

— Bethany Joy Lenz (@BethanyJoyLenz) November 14, 2017

I have been angry for a decade. Today, my sisters take back what was rightfully ours. #burnitdownsis #fuckyoursorry https://t.co/QMZBzwqm7g

— Hilarie Burton Morgan (@HilarieBurton) November 14, 2017
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It's time, sisters. I am so proud to call these women my family. You cannot imagine. #linkinbio https://t.co/OvWGsCyuXb

— Sophia Bush (@SophiaBush) November 14, 2017

Bush, Burton, and Bethany Joy Lenz, as well as others from the show, wrote that they "have chosen this forum to stand together in support of Audrey Wauchope and one another" following Wauchope's statements made on Twitter.

"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," the letter read.

"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."

In a series of tweets, Wauchope said she and other women who worked on One Tree Hill, were often times subject to unwanted touching.

"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 f**k you," she tweeted.

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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

She also talked about how Schwahn would allegedly show naked pictures of actresses he'd slept with to male staffers without the actress' knowledge.

"Men on staff were shown naked photos of on an actress he was having an affair with. Naked photos she didn't know were being passed around.

"Naked photos they didn't want to see. This is such a violation, both to the actress and to the men forced to look and participate," she wrote.

Wauchope also recalled a time when her writing partner was getting ready to leave for her wedding and Schwahn "closed the door of his office and asked her if she really wanted to go through with it".

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"Maybe he could have a shot? Hahahaha we said. That's crazy. He's crazy. NO. He's abusive," she tweeted.

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

In the series of tweets Wauchope wrote: "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."

One Tree Hill aired from 2003-2012 and followed the lives of a group of young men and women growing up in North Carolina.

Schwahn wrote and directed the series and worked as the showrunner for its eight-season run.

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

The cast and crew members who wrote the letter supporting Wauchope said they are all "deeply grateful for Audrey's courage".

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"For one another. And for every male castmate 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. "

Cast members Bush, Burton, Lenz, Danneel Harris, Michaela McManus, Kate Voegele, Daphne Zuniga, India DeBeaufort, Bevin Prince, Jana Kramer, Shantel Van Santen, and Allison Munn all signed the letter.

Crew members, Audrey Wauchope, Rachel Specter, Jane Beck, Tarin Squillante, Cristy Koebley and JoJo Stephens also signed the letter.

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