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

Barton claimed last month that bullying and Bilson’s promotion to series regular contributed to her departure from teen drama

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.

The teen drama, which ran between 2003 and 2007, followed a group of young people and their families in the wealthy, upper-class neighbourhood of Newport Beach, Orange County, California.

Barton, who played Marissa Cooper, left the series in 2006, while Bilson (Summer Roberts) and Clarke (Julie Cooper) stayed until its conclusion.

During Tuesday’s episode (1 June) of their podcast, Welcome to The OC, Bitches!, the former co-stars teased a forthcoming conversation with comedian Danny Pellegrino in which they discussed comments Barton made in an interview last month.

“You know Melinda and I were talking immediately after [the interview] came out,” Bilson said to Pellegrino. “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 at worst, it’s overwhelming and chaotic so, it kinda breaks my heart a little to know [that].”

She continued: “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. 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.”

The OC actors Ben McKenzie, Mischa Barton and Peter Gallagher (Warner Bros Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock)

Discussing Barton’s claims that she left after Bilson was promoted to series regular and the producers “evened out everybody’s pay”, Bilson said:  “[That’s] actually completely false and not what happened. So, it starting out that way, I was like, ‘That’s misinformation. Where are we going with this and what are we trying to say?’”

Bilson and Clarke said they hope Barton will join them on the show so they can “hear her entire perspective and what she is saying she experienced”.

Last month, Barton told E!: “There were people on that set that were very mean to me. 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 [Bilson] 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”.

The Independent has contacted Barton’s representatives for further comment.

In 2017, OC creator Josh Schwartz told The Daily Beast: “Mischa didn’t want off the show any more than any of the other kids wanted off the show. It was a complicated chemistry with the cast… But she certainly wasn’t actively seeking to leave the show.”

Barton’s departure devastated fans at the time, with Marissa’s on-and-off boyfriend Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie) carrying her lifeless body away from a car crash, to the soundtrack of Jeff Buckley’s cover of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen.

“They made me feel like the show is going to go on with or without you and it is what it is,” Barton said. “So I was just, like, OK, cool, then let’s go out with a bang.”

The OC’s Peter Gallagher, an older cast member, recently said he had “discussions” with the young cast at the time “about how one should behave”.

In 2013, Tate Donovan, who played Marissa’s father Jimmy Cooper, told Vulture: “By [season three], the kids had developed a really bad attitude. They just didn’t want to be doing the show anymore. It was pretty tough; they were very tough to work with.”