Why did Jana Kramer leave 'One Tree Hill'? Actress reveals she wasn't allowed to be close to James Lafferty
For those who grew up with Lucas (Chad Michael Murray), Peyton (Hilarie Burton), Nathan (James Lafferty), Haley (Bethany Joy-Galeotti) and Brooke (Sophia Bush), 'One Tree Hill' will always have a special place in their hearts. The teen drama ran from 2003 to 2011 with Murray and Burton leaving the show in Season 6. The show formed some of the strongest fanbases, with most fans cheering for 'Naley', or Lucas-Peyton, and later Brooke-Julian. However, while the drama during the show was enough to keep fans hooked, there was a lot of tension going on behind the scenes as well.
Recently, Jana Kramer, who played the role of Alex Dupre on the show for around two years, opened up again about the toxic atmosphere on the show sets. Alex left the show rather abruptly in the beginning of Season 9 and wasn't seen after that.
A Divided Set
Earlier in 2018, in her podcast 'Whine Down With Jana Kramer', Kramer said while she liked her character because she was “super fun and spunky", she added that it wasn't easy being on the show. “It was hard for us because I felt like when we came on the show, just being so honest, it was a very divided set,” Kramer said, according to People. “I feel like everyone already kinda had their places and it was either, ‘You’re going to be on the A-team or the B-team?” she explained. “It was just tricky.”
She said that their 'creator' was behind this. "I think our creator kinda created that environment, as well,” she said. The actress went on to say, “I don’t know what he’s doing now. But that was probably the hardest part about (being on the show).”
On the latest episode of her podcast, 'Whine Down with Jana Kramer and Michael Caussin', the 37-year-old actress and singer reunited with former costars James Lafferty and Stephen Colletti. Before the introductions, Kramer told Caussin that her friendships on the set were severely affected by one unnamed person, who "made it hell" for everyone else. "When I was on the show... there was just some, not cattiness, but just, 'You can't talk to this person if you're friends with this person,'" she said. "So I wasn't very close to James because of certain situations on the set at the time."
She said that she was closer to Colletti because they had more scenes together. "But now, I mean everyone is really close, and it's kind of frustrating because I'm like, 'Why couldn't we have all be friends then?'" she continued. "'And you made the newbies' life a little bit of hell.' But it's cool. But now it's like, annoying because they're all like, 'We're all friends now,' and I'm just like, 'You, one person, literally made it hell for us, because if we chose the wrong friend, we would be destroyed,'" she added.
Sexual harassment allegations against show creator Mark Schwahn
Schwahn has faced many allegations from 'OTH' stars, the most prominent being sexual harassment which surfaced during the #MeToo movement in 2017.
In 2017, Bush talked about what it was like working for Schwahn on 'Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen'. She said that he had physically harassed her. "Yeah, look, my mom is a crazy Italian lady from New Jersey,” she said. “The first time Mark Schwahn grabbed my ass I hit him in front of six other producers and I hit him fucking hard.” Burton had also mentioned that he tried to force himself on her and kiss her.
Schwahn was accused of sexual harassment by a writer named Audrey Wauchope who worked on 'One Tree Hill', according to Deadline. Bush, Burton and more people publicly supported her and opened up about their own experiences. Schwahn was later fired from 'The Royals' after the allegations.