Rachel Bilson disputes Mischa Barton's explanation for Marissa getting killed off from 'The O.C.'

The O.C. is producing consistent drama despite airing its final episode in February 2007.

Rachel Bilson and Melinda Clarke have been co-hosting a weekly O.C. rewatch podcast since late April, and this week's episode concluded with the former co-stars touching on Mischa Barton's recent claims as to why her character was infamously written off the teen drama series.

First, the appropriate context. This is what Barton told E! last month when asked why Marissa Cooper was controversially killed in the Season 3 finale and when those exit conversations began:

"It's a bit complicated. It started pretty early on because it had a lot to do with them adding Rachel [Bilson] in last minute as, after the first season, a series regular and evening out everybody's pay—and sort of general bullying from some of the men on set that kind of felt really s--tty. But, you know, I also loved the show and had to build up my own walls and ways of getting around dealing with that and the fame that was thrust specifically at me. Just dealing with like the amount of invasion I was having in my personal life, I just felt very unprotected, I guess is the best way to put it.

"I was working so hard, the longest hours probably out of all the characters. It wasn't an easy character for me to play because it wasn't me, which is why I think people liked it or thought Marissa was funny and latched on to her. They felt like this is entertaining because she's all over the place and who is this girl? It's like because this New York girl was trying to play this ditzy L.A. rich kid, you know?"

Bilson, who played Summer Roberts in all 92 episodes, explained that she and Clarke decided to comment "in hopes that Mischa would hear us talk about it and would be willing to come join us on the show so we could hear her entire perspective."

Bilson, now 39, admitted that she and Clarke were initially confused when Barton's interview surfaced.

"I can tell you about my experience with total honesty and transparency," Clarke, who played Barton's onscreen mom Julie Cooper, said. "I cannot speak for somebody else's experience. And we have touched on this, Rachel, but 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."

The 52-year-old continued: "So, it kind of breaks my heart to know that—we knew there was a lot of pressure on her, but if it was really that bad of an experience, that's not right for any young person. But some of the comments were very perplexing to me, so I don't know what the truth is about that."

Bilson then jumped in: "The one thing that I can say is, like, in one of her first comments she says that I was added at last minute after the first season, which is actually completely false and not what happened. So, it's not starting out that way. I was like, well, that’s misinformation. Where are we going with this and what is she trying to say? Which, I would actually like to talk to her and find out what her experience was from her perspective because I saw things a little differently."

Watch the full episode below, with conversation around Barton beginning at around the one-hour, eight-minute mark: