Bush, who was briefly married to the Freaky Friday star in 2005, responded, “Thank God, Hilarie, that you had that moment with Chad, who was already so at odds with our boss.”
“By the way, he was protected as the number one on the call sheet,” Bush said of her ex. “He had the most power, so he could come up and shove our boss off you and get in a fight. And I’m glad that he did. I want everybody to follow that lead.”
Burton and Ackles are among several members of the One Tree Hill cast and crew—including Bush, Lenz and co-star Jana Kramer—who have spoken out about how they were allegedly treated by Schwahn. In fact, they were among 18 cast and crew members who expressed support for former colleague Audrey Wauchope, a former writer on the show, in a Nov. 2017 open letter after she accused him of sexual harrassment.
In the wake of the open letter, Alexandra Park, who starred in Schwahn’s series The Royals, put out a statement on social media, per Variety, calling out the showrunner’s “unacceptable, harmful leadership,” promoting more than two dozen of women working on the E! series alleging sexual harrassment.
Schwahn was suspended—and later fired from—from the series.
E! News has reached out to Schwahn’s reps for comment and has not heard back. He has not responded publicly to any claims of sexual harassment.
