Jana Kramer believes past drama on One Tree Hill has built a rift between her and one of her former costars.
“I still don’t think one girl likes me on the show,” Kramer, 41, shared on the Tuesday, March 25, episode of her “Whine Down” podcast. “And so, I always just, like, try to stay away, even at conventions, ‘cause I’m like, ‘Ah!’”
Kramer did not reveal which female cast member she was speaking about, though her castmate Kate Voegele assured her the drama was “totally made up.” Agreeing, Kramer stated she was “going to slide into her DM[s] and just be like, ‘Are we cool?’”
She added, “We don’t have to be friends. That’s the thing — I’ve realized now we don’t have to be friends, but there doesn’t need to be any awkwardness.”
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Kramer made the revelation while chatting with Voegele, 38, about her highs and lows on One Tree Hill, during which Voegele said her lowest point on the show was dealing with “predatorial issues with our boss,” seemingly referring to show creator and executive producer Mark Schwahn.
“One of the things this person did the most was try to really sow discord, especially among the women. So, I felt like I was constantly being told from the person who hired me for this job, like, ‘This girl doesn’t like you,’” Voegele recalled. “I was terrified of rocking the boat or, like, upsetting anyone. … The first two seasons, five and six, I felt extremely isolated.”
Voegele, who played Mia Catalano on seasons 5 through 8 of The CW series, said that over time she decided to confront the cast members whom she was made to believe disliked her. “[I was like,] ‘If they hate me, they can tell me to my face.’ And no one ever did because, of course, all of that was made up to puppeteer everyone and somehow control, I don’t know,” she explained.
Kramer, who portrayed Alex Dupré on seasons 7 through 9 of One Tree Hill, said she felt similar drama between her and costar Shantel VanSanten. “That was one of the ones that he tried to pit. And I’m just like, ‘What did I do?’ And she’s like, ‘What? He said this.’ And I was like, ‘No,’” she stated. “And then, we became best friends.”
Kramer also claimed she once got a text from Schwahn, 58, while out shopping with Sophia Bush. “He was clearly flirting. And I’m like, ‘What do I say back to this? Because it’s like, he’s the creator of the show. I don’t want to lose my job,’” the actress claimed. “She was like, ‘Just laugh back.’ So, I was like, ‘OK, ha ha ha.’ And thinking back, obviously, there’s things I would do differently.”
Schwahn was first accused of sexual harassment by TV writer Audrey Wauchope in November 2017. Several female cast and crew members — including Kramer and Voegele — supported Wauchope in an open letter shortly after, claiming Schwahn’s alleged inappropriate behavior on the One Tree Hill set was an “open secret.”
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“Many of us were, to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally. More than one of us is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress. Many of us were put in uncomfortable positions and had to swiftly learn to fight back, sometimes physically, because it was made clear to us that the supervisors in the room were not the protectors they were supposed to be,” the letter stated, per Variety. “Many of us were spoken to in ways that ran the spectrum from deeply upsetting, to traumatizing, to downright illegal. And a few of us were put in positions where we felt physically unsafe. More than one woman on our show had her career trajectory threatened.”
Schwahn was fired from the E! series The Royals in the wake of the scandal. The royal drama, which ended after four seasons in 2018, remains his most recent directing and writing credit. He has never addressed the accusations.
