Every single woman on One Tree Hill says they were sexually harassed on the show

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Every single woman on One Tree Hill says they were sexually harassed on the show

‘We learned to fight back physically’

Every single one of One Tree Hill's female cast members has signed a letter accusing showrunner Mark Schwahn of sexual harassment.

The letter, which includes signatures from Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz, comes after their former colleague, writer Audrey Wauchope, took to Twitter to accuse Schwahn.

Wauchope says during staff meetings, female show writers would try to sit as far away from the showrunner as possible so he wouldn't reach out and touch them. She added that other men would often come to their rescue.

Wauchope says Schwahn would "squeeze his disgusting body" between them, wrap his arms around them, touch their hair and massage their shoulders.

She adds there are more stories, but they are "not hers to share."

Every female cast member came to her side Monday, saying they've chosen to stand with Wauchope in support of her statements.

“Many of us were, to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally," the letter says, adding that "more than one" of them is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress.

The cast letter also says many of them were put in uncomfortable positions and had to swiftly learn to fight back, "sometimes physically," because it was made clear to them the supervisors in the room were "not the protectors they were supposed to be."

They added many of them were spoken to in ways that ran from "deeply upsetting, to traumatizing, to downright illegal," and that a few of them were put in positions where they felt "physically unsafe."

Other signatories include actresses Danneel Harris, Michaela McManus, Kate Voegele, Daphne Zuniga, India DeBeaufort, Bevin Prince, Jana Kramer, Shantel Van Santen and Allison Munn, and crew members Rachel Specter, Jane Beck, Tarin Squillante, Cristy Koebley and JoJo Stephens.

A number of male cast members, including Austin Nichols, James Lafferty, Lee Norris, Stephen Colletti and Bryan Greenberg also shared messages in support of the women.

Wauchope added Saturday that she's "furious and sad and everything else" for the women who have sat on that couch next to that man, and that she's also furious and sad she "doesn't feel safe to be able to do anything real" about it.

Here's the cast's full letter:

To Whom It May Concern,

All of the female cast members of One Tree Hill have chosen this forum to stand together in support of Audrey Wauchope and one another. To use terminology that has become familiar as thesystemic reality of sexual harassment and assault has come more and more to light, Mark Schwahn’s behavior over the duration of the filming of One Tree Hill was something of an “open secret.” Many of us were, to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally. More than one of us is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress. Many of us were put in uncomfortable positions and had to swiftly learn to fight back, sometimes physically, because it was made clear to us that the supervisors in the room were not the protectors they were supposed to be. Many of us were spoken to in ways that ran the spectrum from deeply upsetting, to traumatizing, to downright illegal. And a few of us were put in positions where we felt physically unsafe. More than one woman on our show had her career trajectory threatened.

@carolinephinney