Sophia Bush Claims She Was ‘Controlled’ and ‘Manipulated’ on Set of ‘One Tree Hill’

Sophia Bush rose to fame after playing Brooke Davis on One Tree Hill, which aired from 2003 to 2012. Nearly a decade after the show came to an end, Bush is speaking out on what she went through while filming. According to Entertainment Tonight, Bush claimed that she was “controlled” and “manipulated” while on the set of the drama.

Bush recently appeared on the Chicks in the Office podcast to talk about her past with One Tree Hill. During the discussion, the actor said that she looks back on her time on the show with an entirely different perspective. She explained that she and the rest of the cast, which included Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton, amongst others, were “babies” at the time as they were all in their early 20s and new to the entertainment industry.

“When we look back now, we realize how young we were and how naive we were, and how, unfortunately, we didn’t get to grow up on a set where people wanted to answer our questions or help us navigate any of the madness of the early aughts,” Bush said. The former Chicago P.D. star went on to say that she and her castmates experienced the “intense” sides of their fame and that it was “actually kind of scary and intimidating and confusing.” Bush added that they were all tasked with behaving like professionals and knowing the ins and outs of the entertainment business despite the fact that there was no one to help guide them through their new normal. Because of the way that they were treated on set, Bush said that the cast felt as though they were being used as “pawns.”

“We had grown-ups who we trusted, who now we understand were being really controlling and manipulative, who didn’t want us to be close because they thought we would band together and ask for more money,” Bush said. “It’s just so weird and those were just things we were not aware of at the time.” This isn’t the first time that Bush has spoken out about her experiences on One Tree Hill. In 2017, she and several other female cast and crew members penned an open letter in which they claimed that the show’s creator, Mark Schwahn, engaged in inappropriate behavior on the set. In the letter, they claimed that they were “manipulated psychologically and emotionally” by Schwahn. The creator was fired from another show that he was working on, The Royals, in light of these claims.