Rachel Bilson responds to Mischa Barton’s ‘completely false’ claims about OC exit

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Rachel Bilson and Melinda Clarke have responded to Mischa Barton’s recent claims that “bullying” on the set of The OC led to her exit from the show. “And we were just like, ‘Wait, what?’” Clarke said that she and Bilson don’t want to speak on behalf of anyone else on the show, adding: “Someone who is 16, 17, 18 – that amount of hours of work, pressure, at such a young age – at best, you’re exhausted. And for everybody.” The OC actors Ben McKenzie, Mischa Barton and Peter Gallagher Discussing Barton’s claims that she left after Bilson was promoted to series regular and the producers “evened out everybody’s pay”, Bilson said: “ actually completely false and not what happened. 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.” Calling the situation “complicated”, she said that her decision to leave “had a lot to do with them adding Rachel in last minute as, after the first season, a series regular and evening out everybody’s pay – and sort of general bullying from some of the men on set that kind of felt really s****y”.