'One Tree Hill' Cast and Crew Accuse Showrunner Mark Schwahn of Sexual Harassment

They're standing in support of writer Audrey Wauchope.
Image may contain Shantel VanSanten Human Person Necklace Jewelry Accessories Accessory and Bethany Joy Lenz
Kevin Winter/Getty Images

It's been nearly two months since the first bombshell report about Harvey Weinstein's decades of alleged sexual abuse was published, and the accusations of sexual assault and harassment against other powerful men in Hollywood and beyond continues. On Monday, One Tree Hill cast and crew members came together to pen a letter in which they not only showed their support for Audrey Wauchope, one of the show's writers who accused showrunner Mark Schwahn of longtime sexual abuse last week via Twitter, but also backed up her accusations with their own claims of Schwahn's misconduct.

The letter was shared with Variety and signed by all of the teen drama's female cast members—including Hilarie Burton, who previously accused Ben Affleck of groping her on TRL—and several crew members. In total, 18 women signed the letter, in which they condemned the actions of Schwahn, who helmed the show for all eight seasons, as well as the culture of silence and denial on set that forced them to keep quiet about their experiences. Burton, Sophia Bush, and other signers shared the letter on social media using the hashtags #BurnItDownSis and #F*ckYourSorry.

Not long after Variety published the letter, other members of the One Tree Hill family, including several male cast and crew members, also showed their support for Wauchope and the other women who were harassed by Schwahn. Chad Michael Murray retweeted Burton's link to the letter, while costars James Lafferty, Austin Nichols, Antwon Tanner, Lee Norris, and Stephen Colletti shared their own statements of support on Twitter.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

X content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

Read the powerful letter, below, and see the full statement on Variety:

To Whom It May Concern,

All of the female cast members of One Tree Hill have chosen this forum to stand together in support of Audrey Wauchope and one another. To use terminology that has become familiar as the systemic reality of sexual harassment and assault has come more and more to light, Mark Schwahn's behavior over the duration of the filming of One Tree Hill was something of an "open secret." Many of us were, to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally. More than one of us is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress. Many of us were put in uncomfortable positions and had to swiftly learn to fight back, sometimes physically, because it was made clear to us that the supervisors in the room were not the protectors they were supposed to be. Many of us were spoken to in ways that ran the spectrum from deeply upsetting to traumatizing to downright illegal. And a few of us were put in positions where we felt physically unsafe. More than one woman on our show had her career trajectory threatened.

The through line in all of this was, and still is, our unwavering support of and faith in one another. We confided in each other. We set up safe spaces to talk about his behavior and how to handle it. To warn new women who joined our ranks. We understood that a lot of it was orchestrated in ways that kept it out of sight for the studio back home. We also understood that no one was fully unaware. The lack of action that has been routine, the turning of the other cheek, is intolerable. We collectively want to echo the calls of women everywhere that vehemently demand change, in all industries.

Many of us were told, during filming, that coming forward to talk about this culture would result in our show being canceled and hundreds of lovely, qualified, hard-working, and talented people losing their jobs. This is not an appropriate amount of pressure to put on young girls. Many of us since have stayed silent publicly but had very open channels of communication in our friend group and in our industry, because we want Tree Hill to remain the place "where everything's better and everything's safe" for our fans; some of whom have said that the show quite literally saved their lives. But the reality is, no space is safe when it has an underlying and infectious cancer. We have worked at taking our power back, making the conventions our own, and relishing in the good memories. But there is more work to be done.

We are all deeply grateful for Audrey's courage. For one another. And for every male cast mate and crew member who has reached out to our group of women to offer their support these last few days. They echo the greater rallying cry that must lead us to change: Believe women. We are all in this together.

UPDATE, November 16, 2017: After the cast and crew of One Tree Hill published a letter speaking out against showrunner's Mark Schwahn's alleged sexual misconduct, 25 actresses and crew members of E!'s The Royals shared their own statement on Thursday regarding the accusations.

Released to Deadline, the letter read, in full:

Upon reading a statement from the ladies of One Tree Hill, a statement from their Royal sisters could not possibly go unwritten.

Despite hearing rumours about his behaviour on One Tree Hill, those of us involved from the early stages went into the filming of the pilot hoping they were just that – rumours. By the time we wrapped this had irrevocably proven not to be the case. It became all too apparent reading their statement earlier this week that the betrayal and anger so many of us had experienced during our time on The Royals is not exclusively ours. And we were angry then, and we are angry now.

This statement is a collection of voices from those women involved in The Royals who would like to finally respond to the behaviour of our showrunner. Who felt the inclination to abuse his power and influence in an environment where he had it over women who felt they did not. This manifested itself in the repeated unwanted sexual harassment of multiple female members of cast and crew.

Where we should have been excited to meet new female cast and crew members, we felt nauseating concern in case they too should have him track down their mobile number. Where we should have offered our friends who auditioned for The Royals scene help and advice, we offered warnings about the man they would meet in the room. More than all of this, where we should all collectively have felt pride over jobs hard won and roles much loved, we felt undermined as artists and creatives. And in many cases, no more than a sum of body attributes.

Whilst voraciously condemning the actions of one man, we would like to make note of our gratitude to others. Thank you to so many of the Royal men who ensured we were never alone in social situations with him and took two steps towards us for his every one. Thank you to the friends, loved ones and partners who supported us at the time and ever more so now in coming forwards.

But thank you most of all to the women of One Tree Hill, whose solid gold backbones have moved us enormously. To you we doff our crowns.

Kind regardsThe Ladies of The Royals.

Hatty Preston, Sophie Colquhoun, Alex Watherson, Lydia Rose Bewley, April Church, Annalise Beusnel, Poppy Corby-Tuech, Florence Chow, Charlie Jones, Isabella Artitzone, Jade Armstrong, Rachel Walsh, Tania Vernava, Bonnie Vannucci, Merritt Patterson, Kate Benton, Jerry-Jane Pears, Jodie Simone, Kate Royds, Leonie Hartard, Lisa Mitton, Marie Deehan, Alice Woodward, Rachel Lennon, Kimberly Macbeth.