Sophia Bush: Mark Schwahn grabbed me, threatened to fire the guy who defended me

A few months ago, showrunner Mark Schwahn (One Tree Hill, The Royals) was outed as a serial harasser and assailant who created an abusive work environment. The news came out after writer Audrey Wauchope posted to social media about it without naming Schwahn. 18 actors, writers and crew from One Tree Hill confirmed Wauchope’s report on the record, named Schwahn and described treatment that Schwahn subjected them to, including unwanted touching, psychological and verbal abuse. Actress Hilarie Burton even said that Schwahn’s sexual harassment caused her to stop pursuing acting opportunities at 21. Schwahn was subsequently fired as showrunner on The Royals, which is rare as E! isn’t known for making abusers face consequences.
Actress Sophia Bush is one of 18 people who signed the letter. In an interview with Andy Cohen for his radio show, Bush described Schwahn’s harassment, and said it was common on set. (This is the same interview where she admitted she didn’t really want to marry her costar Chad Michael Murray, which taken in this context explains a lot.) She said she hit Schwahn when he grabbed her butt in front of witnesses. Sophia learned later that one of her co-workers defended her for that and told Schwahn not to touch women. Schwahn threatened the man to be quiet about it or get fired.
Sophia Bush spoke about the allegations made against One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwahn, noting that the show was great – when he wasn’t on set.
“Look, my mom is a crazy Italian lady from New Jersey, the first time Mark Schwahn grabbed my ass I hit him in front of six other producers, and I hit him f—cking hard,” Bush revealed, adding she was 21 at the time. “He came back to LA and I was told years later by one of the then writers who became an EP, that he came back being like ‘that f—cking entitled b—ch! Who does she think she is?’ and this very sweet man Mike who I love and is like a ride or die for me was like ‘Maybe you shouldn’t touch the girls.’”
The actress, 35, then added that Schwahn gave Mike an option to “shut up and keep your job or get out.”
“It was very clear to him to stay away from me. You heard comments you knew about things he said to people, we knew about the late night texts. We knew when he was super obsessed with one girl on our show that he would try to bang down her hotel room door in the middle of the night,” she continued.
The activist also commented on those who ask her why she didn’t just leave the show when it all began. (She was part of One Tree Hill from its beginning in 2003 until the end in 2012.)
“First of all, why am I supposed to suffer and kill my own career because someone can’t keep their dick in their pants? Second of all, there is a whole crew of people don’t know about,” she explained. “It’s the reason I am angry about Roseanne being hired back to TV at all, 200 people lost their jobs because she is a psychotic racist.”
The way that Schwahn responded to the guy who stood up for Bush sounds very similar to the situation Wauchope originally wrote about, that even the men felt powerless. She wrote “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.” When the boss is the one setting the tone, there’s this fear of standing up to him to protect victims because you’ll just get fired. It sounds awful. I also like how Bush called out Roseanne for what she is – a psychotic racist.
As for the rumors that Bush left Chicago P.D. last fall because of a coworker, she didn’t name the person, but said that “99.9 percent of the people who are on that show are my family.” She did sort-of confirm that someone was awful to her though. “To have encountered two really terrible people over the course of my career, is kind of a cakewalk.” Two people is more than she should have had to deal with. No one should have to give up a job because of an unreasonable or abusive person, but we’re seeing that play out on a national stage and it’s terrifying.
Bush has been promoting Incredibles 2 and was on Fallon this week. You can see her interview on YouTube. She talked about how she often rides the subway in New York City without getting noticed, and that she sees a lot of hot guys reading on the subway. She said she also loves camping and outdoor activities and recently took a trip to Alaska with her girlfriends. She’s adorable.
Also, do you remember how salty Chad Michael Murray sounded in his response to Bush saying she wasn’t into marrying him? Well his wife posted something about it too and she sounds ridiculous. She used a dumb retro meme and a bunch of hashtags. Did she not hear how things were on set? Regardless she sounds perfect for Murray.
Fashion note: I was about to gush over Sophia’s gorgeous blue dress and then I saw her in that pink and floral shirt with the mini skirt. Hit and miss. Her frayed jeans and striped t-shirt outfit is cute but it’s like she was checking off trends. I’m also including photos of her at the Incredibles 2 premiere. Something weird is going on with her makeup there. Images credit: Backgrid and WENN
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