Rachel Bilson Opens Up About Getting Fired From Project Over Sexual Comment She Made On Podcast

Actors in wildly popular shows can be under the spotlight—oftentimes a harsh one.

During a guest appearance with Nicole Byer on the podcast Why Won't You Date Me, actor Rachel Bilson talked about a time when she lost out on an acting job due to a casual comment being noticed and commented on by the popular media.

Bilson, who is best known for her role in the megahit 2000s TV show The OC, said that she had said something raunchy while on a friend's podcast a couple years ago, and that her comment followed her and eventually lost her an acting job.

What was the comment? Fairly tame, by many measures, but she was right—it is raunchy.

“I said something like, ‘I like to be manhandled.'"

Though she said the friend also used the word "manhandled" during the segment, the casual banter followed her, and she got fired from an acting role for it.

She said she sort of understood why it happened, but she didn't feel it was just or right.

“Did I want to fight it? Absolutely. Look, I can see both sides. When you take something out of context and you read something as a standalone comment, it can come off a certain way ― sure.”

Some people wondered why on earth a comment like that would be perceived so poorly that she would lose a job.

It probably wouldn't have been a huge deal, Bilson elaborated, except the company she was working for was conservative.

“But I think it was a very conservative company so they weren’t comfortable talking about sex at all, in general.”

Some people did point out that this is not the only time she has been this open about her sexuality while speaking candidly.

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Some people perhaps misconstrued the situation, thinking she had said these things at work.

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The question remained, though: what kind of workplace would even care?

Many found this to be a perfect example of the double standard for men and women when it comes to sexuality.

A pretty relevant question...

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Bilson and friend Olivia Allen host a podcast called Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson and Olivia Allen.