Sophia Bush has braved some seriously harsh elements working in showbiz.
The Chicago P.D. actress appeared on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast this week where she opened up about her decision to quit the crime series after realizing it was affecting her health.
Explaining how the conditions of working in the Windy City’s extreme weather was excruciating and people were getting sick all the time, the activist said she always thought she was simply “being the tough guy” by showing up to work and programming herself “to tolerate the intolerable.”
Related: Sophia Says ‘One Tree Hill’ Producers Exploited Her Divorce!
But eventually, Bush realized that she was prioritizing “tugging the ship for the crew, for the show, for the group” over her own health — and her body was “falling apart” because of it. So, she decided to quit… only she had to put up a fight for that, too.
When her bosses told her there was “no way” she’d be able to pull out of her seven season contract, she gave them a cold choice:
“I said, ‘OK, you can put me in the position of going quietly of my own accord or you can put me in the position of suing the network to get me out of my deal and I’ll write an op-ed for The New York Times and tell them why.'”
Sounds like Chicago P.D. could use some Chicago HR.
Bush went on to claim that her complaints were hidden from former NBC president Jennifer Salke. When Salke did find out, she was completely understanding and told the actress they’d never try to force her to stay.
Related: Sophia Bush Is Pretty In Pink!
When Shepard brought up that the actress was also on a toxic set during her stint on One Tree Hill, Bush clarified that the two were “very different experiences,” since showrunner Mark Schwahn wasn’t on the North Carolina set with the cast, but in Los Angeles.
Apparently, that set involved all different types of abuse. She said, without naming names:
“One was like, a guy who we’re like, ‘Oh God, he’s back.’ And one was a consistent onslaught barrage of abusive behavior.”
She then added:
“You start to lose your way when someone assaults you in a room full of people and everyone literally looks away, looks at the floor, looks at the ceiling, and you’re the one woman in the room and every man who’s twice your size doesn’t do something.”
Yuck. We wonder if this is a reference to the time Schwahn allegedly “grabbed” her ass in front of six producers? Or is it yet another unsettling anecdote?
Either way, girl has been putting up with abusive environments for quite some time.
[Image via FayesVision/WENN.]
Related Posts
-
Categories
