"One Tree Hill"-Cast und -Crew belasten Serienmacher Mark Schwahn wegen sexueller Belästigung

Es vergeht kein Tag, an dem nicht eine neue Meldung über sexuelle Belästigung am Set einer bekannten Serie oder eines Films bekannt wird. Nun wurden auch schwere Vorwürfe gegen "One Tree Hill"-Serienmacher Mark Schwahn erhoben.

Eine der ehemaligen Drehbuchautorinnen der Serie, Audrey Wauchope, hat am Wochenende in einer Reihe von Tweets bekannt gegeben, dass sie und eine Autoren-Kollegin, Rachel Specter, bei ihrem ersten Job von ihrem Boss sexuell belästigt wurden. Ihr zufolge habe es unangemessene Kommentare und Berührungen am Arbeitsplatz gegeben und der entsprechende Serienmacher habe anderen Crew-Mitgliedern Nacktfotos einer Schauspielerin gezeigt, mit der er zu dieser Zeit ein Verhältnis hatte. Obwohl Wauchope keinen Namen nannte, wurde schnell offensichtlich, dass es sich um Mark Schwahn handelte.

Diese Anschuldigungen wiegen umso schwerer, da nun die Hauptdarstellerinnen von "One Tree Hill", darunter Bethany Joy Lenz, Sophia Bush und Hilarie Burton, sich mit einigen weiblichen Crew-Mitgliedern von damals zusammen getan haben, um ein Statement zu veröffentlichen, dass diese Schilderungen bestätigt. Es sei ein "offenes Geheimnis" gewesen, wie Schwahn die Frauen am Set behandelte und man habe sich zusammen getan, um einander zu schützen, da es keine Möglichkeit gegeben habe, dagegen vorzugehen. Vielen von ihnen sei gesagt worden, dass sie Schuld seien, wenn Hunderte von Menschen ihren Job verlieren, sollten sie irgendwem davon erzählen, was ein zusätzlicher großer Druck gewesen sei. Zudem habe die Fans nicht enttäuschen wollen, die Tree Hill immer als sicheren Ort empfunden haben.

Hier das Statement in der Originalfassung:

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 the systemic 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.

The through line in all of this was, and still is, our unwavering support of and faith in one another. We confided in each other. We set up safe spaces to talk about his behavior and how to handle it. To warn new women who joined our ranks. We understood that a lot of it was orchestrated in ways that kept it out of sight for the studio back home. We also understood that no one was fully unaware. The lack of action that has been routine, the turning of the other cheek, is intolerable. We collectively want to echo the calls of women everywhere that vehemently demand change, in all industries.

Many of us were told, during filming, that coming forward to talk about this culture would result in our show being canceled and hundreds of lovely, qualified, hard-working, and talented people losing their jobs. This is not an appropriate amount of pressure to put on young girls. Many of us since have stayed silent publicly but had very open channels of communication in our friend group and in our industry, because we want Tree Hill to remain the place "where everything's better and everything's safe" for our fans; some of whom have said that the show quite literally saved their lives. But the reality is, no space is safe when it has an underlying and infectious cancer. We have worked at taking our power back, making the conventions our own, and relishing in the good memories. But there is more work to be done.

We are all deeply grateful for Audrey's courage. For one another. And for every male cast mate and crew member who has reached out to our group of women to offer their support these last few days. They echo the greater rallying cry that must lead us to change: Believe Women. We are all in this together.

With Love and Courage,

The Cast,

Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton, Bethany Joy Lenz, Danneel Harris, Michaela McManus, Kate Voegele, Daphne Zuniga, India de Beaufort, Bevin Prince, Jana Kramer, Shantel Van Santen, and Allison Munn

And Brave Crew,

Audrey Wauchope, Rachel Specter, Jane Beck, Tarin Squillante, Cristy Koebley, JoJo Stephens

And All the rest of the Women We Worked With Who Are Finding Their Voices as We Speak