One Tree Hill Stars Discuss Pressure from Bosses in New Podcast Episode
On a recent episode of their podcast, Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton Morgan discussed being pressured by higher-ups on One Tree Hill during their run on the series, explaining that they were forced to pose for the cover of Maxim in fear of keeping their jobs.
Bush, Morgan, and Bethany Joy Lenz starred in One Tree Hill on the WB/CW from 2003 to 2012. In 2021, the actresses reunited to start their podcast, Drama Queens, with iHeart. On the podcast, they recap the show one episode at a time while discussing their time being a part of the cast.
During the November 28 episode, the stars recapped season 4 episode 4 of the series “Can’t Stop This Thing We’ve Started.” In the episode, Rachel, played by Danneel Ackles, takes photos for Maxim. After the episode, Morgan, Bush, and Ackles were asked to appear on the magazine cover in 2007.
The women explained how the show had gathered a significant male audience by that time, which creators were trying to focus on. Morgan added that her character being attacked by a man caused viewership to increase. She stated, “I was specifically pulled aside and told that our male numbers in viewership skyrocketed when Peyton [Morgan] got her ass kicked by Derek [Matt Barr]. And so what you’ll see, there’s a pattern on our show, where either violence towards women or super sexualized situations, there’s going to be an uptick in that, because they were really hot to capture the male audience and they saw those numbers.”
Bush discussed how she did not want to do the cover shoot but was told by her bosses that there would be serious consequences if she did not. She explained, “I literally got told, ‘If you do not go and shoot this cover with your co-stars, we will guarantee you that you will never be let out for a press day, a movie, an event, any of your charities. We will keep you here forever.”
Morgan alleged she was also threatened, stating, “The studio wants to cancel your show. If you don’t start to generate some buzz and attract these male numbers, then we’re dead and all your friends are going to lose their jobs.”
Ackles, Bush, and Morgan appeared on the cover without Lenz. Lenz explained that she was told she was “too fat.” Morgan and Bush were unaware of the reason Lenz was not on the cover. They then explained that they were told that Lenz declined.
The stars’ reports are not the first time One Tree Hill creators have been exposed for their mistreatment of women. In 2017, former OTH writer, Audrey Wauchope Lieberstein, posted a series of Tweets detailing how Mark Schwahn, the series showrunner, treated her and her co-writer.
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
In a joint statement, Bush, Lenz, and Morgan backed Lieberstein’s claims. In addition, they revealed that they had experienced harassment from Schwahn as well.
No other members from the One Tree Hill cast have commented on the podcast episode at this time. Fans can stream the full episode of Drama Queens here. All episodes of One Tree Hill are also available to stream on Hulu.
