#’It Was Icky’: Sophia Bush Talks Being ‘Fetishized’ By Adults On One Tree Hill

The actress is known for being passionately outspoken, and she’s been remarkably honest about the inappropriate behavior she experienced on set of the teen drama. Most notably, she joined together with other castmembers, including Hilarie Burton, to call out showrunner Mark Schwahn for sexual misconduct.

Related: Jana Kramer Reveals ‘One Person’ Made Life ‘Hell’ On OTH Set!!

On a recent episode of the Chicks in the Office podcast, the 38-year-old had some more detailed criticism for the series, including dialogue she found inauthentic. She explained:

“My girlfriends from One Tree Hill and I talk about that all the time. We’re like, girls don’t talk to each other the way we had to talk to each other on that show and also don’t behave the way we had to behave on that show. Come on! That was, like, some gross older man’s fantasy. And it was icky.”

Some gross older man…

She also elaborated further on the toxic environment behind the scenes, saying:

“We were in our early 20s playing high school kids, but we didn’t know anything. We were babies… We felt like little kids. 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.”

Admitting that her time on the show was “actually kind of scary and intimidating and confusing,” she went on:

“It was weird because, in some ways, we were treated like adults. Looking back on it, we can see the ways in which we were fetishized and we had this sort of lens of adultification put over us with this idea that we were supposed to know everything and have answers, and be, ultimately, professional. When we didn’t even know what the technical terms were. It was like, ‘Get on your mark!’ And you’re like, ‘What are you talking about? What is a mark? What do you mean?’ We were expected to be these adults and yet, we were also looked at kind of as pawns.”

The Chicago P.D. alum reflected:

“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 ’cause they thought we would band together and ask for more money. It’s just so weird and those were things we were not aware of at the time.”

She added:

“There was no social media where people were talking about this stuff and giving people advice, and figuring out if you were being paid equitably. We didn’t have any of that. We were just in the dark.”

Related: Sophia  Says OTH Producers Exploited Her Divorce From Chad Michael Murray!

She told the hosts that her time on the hit series was “such a crazy thing to look back on, so much joy and so much confusion all existing at the same time.” However, it also informed how she acts now that she’s a boss. She revealed:

“I want my sets to be really, yes professional — we’re not here to tolerate a bunch of dilly-dallying or bulls**t — but we’re also supposed to be really fun and expansive. I want sets that I work on to be places that people can ask any question and get it answered. Where we can hold ourselves to a degree of excellence as a challenge, not as a threat. Where it can just be fun. … That’s the energy I want it to be, because I know what it’s like when it isn’t.”

We’re always glad to hear Sophia calling out those past wrongs, and we’re SO happy to know that she was able to grow past them. Keep sharing your truth, gurl!

Ch-ch-check out the full podcast interview (below):

[Image via The CW/YouTube.]