One Tree Hill’s Hilarie Burton says she feels ‘guilt’ over not speaking out about sexual harassment sooner

Actor said she did not make her accusations public at first for fear of being labelled a ‘troublemaker’

One Tree Hill star Hilarie Burton has spoken about the sexual harassment she suffered on the set of the teen drama.

In 2017, Burton was among several One Tree Hill cast and crew members who claimed they had been sexually harassed by series creator Mark Schwahn.

The showrunner has never commented on the allegations and was fired from One Tree Hill that same year.

“I had such strong relationships on the show and I still do,” Burton, who was on the show for six years before she left in 2009, told People magazine. “There was so much good. But there was bad too.”

The actor claimed she was “groomed” by Schwahn, who she previously alleged was verbally abusive, touched her inappropriately and kissed her against her will.

“I was told that if you speak up, your career is over and you’ll be labelled a troublemaker,” said Burton, who was in her twenties when the show was filming.

She added: “I didn’t say anything for a decade. And as a result of that, people were abused after me. The guilt that comes with that is really difficult.”

Burton said she would “always be angry” about the abuse she endured and that it has an impact on how she parents her two-year-old daughter, George, who she had with her husband, The Walking Dead star Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

“It affects how I parent [George],” she said. “She will never be a pleaser. If my daughter tells someone to f*** off, awesome. I wish I had had the ability to do that.”

Burton’s new memoir The Rural Diaries is published 5 May.