Mischa Barton 'wasn't bullied,' was a 'nightmare' on 'The O.C.' set, report

Mischa Barton's revelations about her negative experience on the set of "The O.C." has received sympathy from her co-stars, but they are surprised by her allegations and remember a different version of the events.

Mischa Barton, who rose to fame playing Marissa Cooper on the iconic teen show, spoke to E! News last month about her abrupt exit from the series after three seasons, and attributed it to two major reasons. One was the makers' decision to upgrade Rachel Bilson to a series regular "last minute" after the first season, which she said resulted in "evening out everybody's pay," and the other was "bullying" by some "very mean" men on set that left her "not really feeling protected by my cast and crew."

However, a source has claimed to Page Six that Barton wasn't "bullied," but instead the crew was just frustrated with her as she was a "nightmare" to work with and would constantly "show up late" for filming.

"So now she wants to go say that she was bullied. It wasn't that she was bullied. People didn't appreciate waiting for hours for her to show up," the insider said, adding that she also had a momager (Nuala Quinn-Barton) who was "annoying."

"It was a mess," the source said.

In her defence, Barton issued a statement to the outlet, where she admitted that she had been unhelpful at times but noted that doesn't give "powerful" individuals the right to mistreat her.

"There was a lot going on. Whether I was late or not doesn't excuse certain behavior from individuals in powerful positions. Everyone experiences things differently and where I acknowledge some of my past behavior may not have been helpful in certain instances, I will tell my truth when I feel ready," Barton said.

Meanwhile, the source also acknowledged that Barton's attitude significantly improved later in her career, including at the filming of "The Hills: New Beginnings" in 2019 where the change in her behaviour was like "night and day."

"She was definitely more mature. She definitely was showing up with an understanding of what her responsibilities were," the source said.

Rachel Bilson, whose upgrade as a regular on "The O.C" became an issue for Barton, also sympathised with her former co-star but said her initial reaction to her revelations was of shock.

"You know Melinda (Clarke- who played Barton's character's mother on the show) and I were talking immediately after [the interview] came out. And we were just like, 'Wait, what?'" Bilson said on Tuesday's episode of her podcast, "Welcome to the OC, Bitches!" which she co-hosts with Clarke.

The actress, who played Summer Roberts on the show, also said that Barton's claims about how she became a regular are "completely false" and "misinformation."

Clarke also expressed similar sentiments, while noting that she understands Barton's position as it can be tough dealing with so much responsibility at a young age.

"Someone who is 16, 17, 18 — that amount of hours of work, pressure, at such a young age — at best, you're exhausted and at worst, it's overwhelming and chaotic so, it kinda breaks my heart a little to know [that]," she said, adding that they knew there was a lot of pressure on Barton but didn't know her experience was so bad.

"But, some of the comments were very perplexing to me. So, I don't know what the truth is about that," she added.

Bilson, who said she is "definitely pretty confused by most of" Barton's comments, invited her former co-star on her podcast in the hope that they could "hear her entire perspective and what she is saying she experienced."