Hilarie Burton Says Chad Michael Murray Confronted One Tree Hill Boss Following Alleged Assault
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Every One Tree Hill fan remembers “the Honey Grove episode,” but for one cast member of the WB-turned-CW drama, memories of filming it include some painful details.
The episode, which aired in May 2007, found the Tree Hill gang road-tripping to the small Texas town of Honey Grove to rescue a friend in need. The location was selected as part of a contest in which fans submitted videos explaining why their hometown deserved to be featured on the show.
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The plan was to surprise the students of Honey Grove High with an announcement during a school pep rally, and as series star Hilarie Burton recalls in the March 15 episode of the Drama Queens rewatch podcast, her “boss” decided that she would be the only one joining him for the big reveal.
“Just me and him had to fly to Honey Grove,” Burton says. “Just me and him did the announcement. Just me and him flew home together. The flight back from that is when he assaulted me. He assaulted me again in the car on the drive from Raleigh to Wilmington. … He went straight to set and he told Danneel [Ackles] that he and I made out the whole time. He tried to make her jealous. She confronted me about it. She was like, ‘What are you doing?’ And I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
This behavior was, unfortunately, extremely common behind the scenes of One Tree Hill, as anyone who regularly listens to the podcast can attest. Though Burton never directly mentions her “boss” by name, it should be noted that nearly 20 members of the One Tree Hill cast and crew released a joint statement accusing series creator Mark Schwahn of sexual harassment in 2017.
Burton also recalls being grabbed by her boss in front of a large group of people at a local Honey Grove grove bar, an act which prompted co-star Chad Michael Murray to step in and speak up.
“Chad walked up and goes, ‘What are you doing?’” Burton says. “He said that to our boss in the bar. He watched our boss grab me in front of a lot of people. Chad didn’t have anything to lose because he knew our boss hated him anyway. A lot of people had a lot to lose, and you don’t speak up when you have a lot to lose.”
As No. 1 on the call sheet, Murray “had the most power, so he could come up and shove our boss off you and get in a fight,” Sophia Bush adds. “And I’m glad that he did. I want everybody to follow that lead. Thank God, Hilarie, that you had that moment with Chad, who was already so at odds with our boss.”
At the time of the incident, Burton was in the fourth season of a six-season contract. She and Murray both left the series when those contracts were up in 2009, though it continued for three more seasons through 2012.
TVLine has reached out to Murray’s reps for comment.
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