Hilarie Burton says sexual abuse she faced on 'One Tree Hill' is why she wants daughter to fight for herself

Hilarie Burton of 'One Tree Hill' has opened about both the happy and painful experiences she endured during her tenure on the hit teenage television drama. She revealed all this in her upcoming memoir 'The Rural Diaries', which is due for release on May 5, 2020. 

Besides recollecting joyful moments from her childhood and life on a family farm in Hudson, Burton has also touched upon the horrific experience she was subjected to while starring in The CW show between 2002 and 2009. 

In an interview with People, talking about the same subject she had said, "I had such strong relationships on the show and I still do. There was so much good. But there was bad too."

The creator of the show, Mark Schwahn, was accused by Burton and several other cast members for sexual abuse and harassment. Sharing one such disturbing incident, Burton recalls being groomed by Schwahn on the sets while he touched her inappropriately and even forcefully kissed her. 

However, she remained silent and didn’t talk about it for nearly a decade until the show came to an end. Commenting on this, Burton said, "I was told that if you speak up, your career is over. You’ll be labeled a troublemaker."

Meanwhile, the showrunner has chosen to remain mum about the allegations made against him and was only fired from his job in 2017 when all his misconducts came to light. 

Burton, who is now happily married to ‘The Walking Dead’ star Jeffrey Dean Morgan, has two children — son Gus, 10, and daughter George, 2.

Ashe told the publication that she’ll “always be angry” about the tragedy that befell her. But, she’s trying to make sure her daughter is brought in a way that she can fight for herself. 

“It affects how I parent (George)," she said. "She will never be a pleaser. If my daughter tells someone to f**k off, awesome. I wish I had had the ability to do that," Burton said. 

When asked if her son Gus knows about what his mother went through, she responded, “He knows something bad went down on that set and he asks me, ‘Why do you still do conventions for it? Why do you still talk about it?’ But I am making a decision as an adult to focus on the good, to focus on the fan base and the crew and the fact that I got to learn my craft every day."