Trigger warning: this article contains mentions of sexual harassment
It’s not often that you see co-stars remaining best friends nearly 19 years after their show’s debut, but One Tree Hill stars Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton, and Bethany “Joy” Lenz are beating the odds. After launching their podcast, Drama Queens, through iHeart Radio, they’ve reignited fans’ love for the show and created a cozy atmosphere comparable to that of the iconic Karen’s Cafe from early seasons — but it hasn’t always been this way.
It’s hard to identify one singular plot line of One Tree Hill, between family drama, secret and not-so-secret romances, sibling rivalries, and more. However, one thing that remained central to the show was the power of friendship and platonic love. “The peanut butter to my jelly” quickly becomes “the Brooke to my Peyton” after binging this series.
Both on and off the show, Bush, Burton, and Lenz went through a lot during their years of filming. Their characters faced a lot of hardships on screen, but behind the scenes wasn’t much different. In 2005, Sophia Bush married co-star Chad Michael Murray following a whirlwind romance that quickly fizzled out after a few months and somewhat mirrored that of their characters’ on-screen relationship. After their split, they continued to work together despite difficulties ranging from individual tensions to producers exploiting their personal lives.
In addition, behind the scenes of the show, many female actresses, writers, and crew of One Tree Hill were dealing with sexual harassment from producer Mark Schwann. Burton claimed Schwann attempted to highly sexualize her on-screen character, and that he made numerous inappropriate advances on her while filming. He created a culture that pitted the One Tree Hill women against each other while privately manipulating them. Bush, Burton, and Lenz were just a few of the women to speak out against Schwann, and his TV empire swiftly fell apart following these claims in 2018.
The reunion of Bush, Burton, and Lenz was not totally unlikely, but it was also not expected — they had publicly interacted on multiple occasions, but the announcement of their podcast, Drama Queens, still shook One Tree Hill fans, myself included. In their podcast episodes, they detail each episode of the TV series as they relive every moment of filming and give fans the inside scoop on what it was really like, while commonly including silly anecdotes from on-set. In October 2022, they decided to bring their podcast to life and go on tour to four locations along the east coast, including Boston, New York City, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia. I was lucky enough to attend one of the two Boston shows, and let me tell you — I was not disappointed. Simply seeing this trio in person was enough to make my heart burst. I’ve rewatched One Tree Hill countless times, and each time I fall more in love with the show and the actors. Getting to know Bush, Burton, and Lenz outside of their characters as Brooke, Peyton, and Haley is truly a gift to anyone who listens. During the live show, their solidarity was evident, and the audience could feel it. A fun tidbit from behind the scenes of the podcast tour that they shared was that they actually rented an RV and drove it around the east coast together to each of their shows instead of flying — if that isn’t true friendship, then I don’t know what is.
These women truly represent the importance of genuine female friendship. Through a show heavily focused on dramatic romantic relationships and despite opposing forces behind the scenes, they stuck together and created an everlasting bond that has grown into an empowering podcast listened to by fans from all over. Despite the popularity of fan-favorite One Tree Hill couples like Nathan and Haley, there’s no doubt that the greatest love story to result from One Tree Hill is the friendship of Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton, and Joy Lenz.
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