'The O.C.' Stars Rachel Bilson and Melinda Clarke Address Mischa Barton's 'Perplexing' Claims

After Mischa Barton revealed that her experience working on The O.C. was "complicated," former stars Rachel Bilson and Melinda Clarke are now speaking out about her "perplexing claims." The two actors opened up to Danny Pellegrino on his podcast Everything Iconic about their reactions when they learned of Barton's recent E! News interview.

"You know Melinda and I were talking immediately after [the interview] came out," Bilson, who played Summer on the show, recalled. "And we were just like, 'Wait, what?'" Clarke, who played Julie, explained that although she couldn't speak for Barton's experience, she said she could understand her perspective. "Someone who is 16, 17, 18 – that amount of hours of work, pressure, at such a young age – at best, you're exhausted," she said. "And at worst, it's overwhelming and chaotic so, it kinda breaks my heart a little."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @rachelbilson

"We knew there was a lot of pressure on her but if it was really that bad of an experience, that's not right for any young person," Clarke continued. "But, some of the comments were very perplexing to me. So, I don't know what the truth is about that. I do know that, yes, this was an enormous amount of pressure for her. And for everybody."

In the Everything Iconic podcast episode, which Bilson and Clarke teased on their own Welcome to the O.C., Bitches! podcast, Bilson pushed back a bit on Barton's claim that talks about her exit began after Bilson's promotion to series regular. As Barton put it, producers started "evening out everybody's pay" and added Bilson's character at the "last minute." But Bilson disagreed, calling it "misinformation." She said, "[That's] actually completely false and not what happened. Where is she going with this and what is she trying to say? I would actually like to talk to her and find out what her experience was from her perspective, because I saw things a little differently."

Bilson added that she and Clarke chose to address Barton's interview "in hopes that Mischa would hear us talk about it and would be willing to come join us on the show so we could hear her entire perspective and what she is saying she experienced."

Last month, Barton told E! that she left The O.C. because "there were people on that set that were very mean to me." She said, "It wasn't like the most ideal environment for a young, sensitive girl who's also been thrust into stardom to have to put up with. ... But, you know, I also loved the show and had to build up my own walls and ways of getting around dealing with that and the fame that was thrust specifically at me. Just dealing with, like, the amount of invasion I was having in my personal life, I just felt very unprotected, I guess is the best way to put it."

Barton also said that when she sees "certain" cast members now, years removed from the show, that "they are so excited to see me and they only remember the good times. So, it's a bit of a mixed bag how we all feel about it."

Bilson and Clarke said they don't have any idea as to the identities of those "certain people." "I mean, I'm definitely pretty confused by most of it," Bilson said of Barton's comments. "And I don't know who she's referring to because I didn't personally witness any of that." Clarke added, "It's hard for me to speculate because I like to speak from truth. But, we can only imagine that it was pretty, like I said, overwhelming and just how to navigate these waters at that age."