From One Tree Hill to her latest role in Grey’s Anatomy, Sophia Bush has been a resident scene-stealer on TV for a few decades. But while she’s won over her audiences over the years, there’s a lot more that happened behind the scenes.
In a new interview on the Reclaiming With Monica Lewinsky podcast, Bush remembered a traumatic on-set experience on a TV show after her time on One Tree Hill. Per Page Six, all signs are pointing to her time on Chicago P.D. as Erin Lindsay. Bush left the show abruptly in 2017 after four seasons, alleging a toxic work environment.
“I had a workplace ongoing trauma revolving around an unending situation with someone old enough to be my father,” Bush told Lewinsky, adding that she experienced people who were “every kind of abusive” during her time there.
“I did the thing I learned to do and said, ‘I will not have my integrity diminished by someone else’s behavior,’” Bush said of her mindset at the time. “‘I will be unflappable. I will come to work and do my job.’ And I couldn’t.”
CHICAGO P.D., Sophia Bush, ‘If We Were Normal’, (Season 3, Episode 319, aired March 30, 2016).
Matt Dinerstein / ©NBC / courtesy Everett Collection
But, as a result, keeping her feelings inside led to some physical side effects. According to Bush, she had a “spontaneous illness,” would wake up “covered in hives,” had “really crazy weight fluctuation,” lost her hair and couldn’t sleep due to “crippling anxiety.”
“To be hit with anxiety in such a way that I could barely be out of the house,” Bush detailed. “If people touched me in public, I would jump out of my skin. I couldn’t talk to people anymore. I couldn’t talk to strangers anymore. I couldn’t be looked at anymore.”
Luckily, she “finally” left the show in April 2017.
A few months later, in October 2017, an executive came to her and apologized. “I got a call from an executive apologizing for what they’d done and not done,” she recalled. “And [they] said, ‘We’re very aware we just made it out of that unscathed.’”
“I was like, ‘Glad you did, I’m in so much therapy. I’ve been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, but I’m thrilled you guys didn’t get dragged through the press,’” Bush responded.
Knowing that Chicago P.D. is still airing to this day, with many of the original cast members, is sure is surprising to know how toxic the set was for Bush. We’re glad she got out when she did.
Before you go, click here to see all the celebrities who have opened up about their depression and anxiety.
Before you go, click here to see all the celebrities who have opened up about their depression and anxiety.
