- "One Tree Hill" star Hilarie Burton said Chad Michael Murray stood up for her to the show's creator.
- On the "Drama Queens" podcast, Burton accused Mark Schwahn of assaulting her during season four.
Hilarie Burton said her "One Tree Hill" costar Chad Michael Murray stepped in to defend her against the teen drama's creator and showrunner Mark Schwahn following an alleged assault.
On Wednesday's episode of the iHeartRadio rewatch podcast, "Drama Queens," which Burton cohosts with her former costars Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz, the actor said she was assaulted by "our boss" while on a work trip to Honey Grove, Texas, during the series' fourth season.
In 2017, Schwahn was accused of sexual harassment by 18 women who worked on "One Tree Hill."
After describing some of her fonder memories of the trip to Texas, Burton said: "That trip was also when our boss assaulted me."
According to Burton, Schwahn assaulted her twice on the journey back to Wilmington, North Carolina, and when they arrived on set, he bragged to another actor on the show, Danneel Ackles, that they "made out the whole time."
Representatives for Schwahn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Speaking about another incident that took place in public, Burton said Murray intervened when he saw the showrunner put his hands on Burton, who was only 23 at the time.
"Chad walked up and goes, 'What are you doing?' He said that to our boss in the bar," Burton, who played Peyton Sawyer in the series, said.
"He watched our boss grab me in front of a lot of people, and you know, Chad didn't have anything to lose because he knew our boss hated him anyway," she continued. "A lot of people had a lot to lose, so you don't speak up when you have a lot to lose. But he felt so comfortable that that was not something that he had a problem with."
Brooke Davis actor Bush suggested that Murray could stand up for Burton without facing repercussions because he was "number one on the call sheet.'
"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," she said. "I want everybody to follow that lead."
"I have sympathy for the reality that people are scared they're going to put a hole in the ship and then the ship is going to sink, but get over it and protect your people. Because this idea that looking at the ground is okay — it's not," Bush — who was married to Murray from 2005 to 2006 — said.
"And thank God, Hilarie, that you had that moment with Chad, who was already so at odds with our boss."
This is not the first time Burton and her costars have spoken out about the "One Tree Hill" creator on their podcast.
In November, they shared the real story behind their memorable Maxim cover shoot, claiming that although they initially turned down the offer, Schwahn threatened their jobs if they didn't participate.
Bush said that she initially didn't want to do in the tie-in photo shoot with the men's magazine because her character, who was supposed to be 16 on the show, was already overly "sexualized."
Lenz left her cohosts shocked when she shared that she was told she was "too fat" to be on the magazine cover. The actor, who played Haley James Scott in The WB/The CW series, said she was swapped out for Ackles.
The three actors were among 18 former female cast and crew members who detailed being "psychologically and emotionally" abused by the series creator in an open letter published by Variety more than five years ago.
Schwahn has never responded to the allegations.