Rachel Bilson and Rami Malek attended high school together in Sherman Oaks, California, and Bilson used a throwback photo from a trip to New York City they took as students at Notre Dame High School to celebrate the actor’s success during the 2019 awards seasons.The post was not well-received by Malek, who requested that Bilson remove the photo from social media.
Bilson shared an update on the situation during an episode of the LadyGang podcast, sharing that she and Malek “have talked” and are “all good” after the actor “connected” with Bilson. “He was so sweet and we’re totally fine now and we talked about it and we’re good,” The O.C. alum recalled. “He was so gracious, and I totally understood where he was coming from and he understood me. And I was just so happy we were able to squash it and, like, move on.”
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The 39-year-old noted that she didn’t expect the story to gain so much traction in the media. “My friend sent me a CNN link to it. I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’” Bilson said, adding that she was “so mortified” and “was having a panic attack.” “I had to go to therapy that day, and I was like, ‘I am having anxiety. I did not want this to resurface in this way. I feel so bad. Oh my god. Rami is going to think I’m doing this again.’”
Ultimately, Bilson was glad that the situation turned out the way that it did. “It actually turned out to be a good thing for a reason, because we were able to reconnect and, like, make it better and everything is great,” she said.
She originally shared the story on Dax Shepard and Monica Padman’s Armchair Expert podcast in March. “I had posted a throwback of us from our senior trip to New York, Broadway,” Bilson told the hosts. “We’re super nerdy, [it was] just the dorkiest picture of the both of us. But I throw it up, ’cause it’s funny and I think it’s so important to be able to make fun of yourself.”
After her post, Malek reached out to her in an Instagram message. “It wasn’t like, ‘Hey! How are you?!’ It was straight to, ‘I would really appreciate if you take that down. I’m a really private person,’” she recalled. “I was like, ‘Oh, s—! OK.’ I get really hot and start sweating. I’m all nervous, like, ‘Oh god! What did I do?’ He was a good friend, it’s a funny picture, you know? I don’t take myself that seriously.”
Bilson removed the photo and “even wrote to him a really nice message: ‘I’m so sorry. Go get the Oscar! You’re doing amazing.’ And I never heard anything back, which is fine. But I was super bummed because he was always so nice and we were good friends.”
