Hilarie Burton reveals she felt ‘free’ after speaking up against One Tree Hill abuse

Hilarie Burton has recently revealed she felt “free” after speaking out against the alleged abuse on the set of One Tree Hill.

“It is an age-old lesson, that honesty is always better, it sets you free,” said the actress, who played Peyton Sawyer on the teen drama for six seasons, in a new interview with Page Six at the Tribeca Festival premiere of The Walking Dead: Dead City.

Hilarie explained, “I think when you’re young, you’re led to believe that keeping quiet about things is how you protect people you care about.”

“And what I’ve learned is that speaking up is way better,” she added.

Back in 2017, Hilarie and 17 other women, including her co-stars Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz, accused the show’s creator, Mark Schwahn, of sexual harassment on the set of One Tree Hill in the 2000s.

In a letter, the women claimed, “Many of us were, to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally. More than one of us is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress.

Meanwhile, Hilarie also disclosed that she was groped by Ben Affleck during an appearance on MTV’s Total Request Live.

After the video of his groping went viral in 2017, Hilarie tweeted that she hadn’t forgotten about the incident and added, “I was a kid.”

Ben, however, later apologised to Hilarie for his immoral behaviour.