Show Sophia Bush leaves Chicago PD after abuse claims

Sophia Bush has given a rare insight over the years into her difficult experience on the set of Chicago PD – including the alleged abuse that led to her tragic departure.

Bush played detective Erin Lindsay on four seasons of the Chicago Fire spinoff before her surprising decision to leave in 2017. She later mentioned a toxic set and abusive behavior from a costar, who she did not name.

“I don’t have to give everyone the specifics of why I left until I’m ready to do so. But, the general theme for me was that I landed my dream job. I landed this job that, since I was 20 years old and trying to be an actor, I said I wanted. I realized I’d been drowning It was then that I knew just how how miserable I was going to work every day.”

She continued: “What you start to realize is that if your house was on fire, you wouldn’t hang in there because your brother was in there and you loved him. You’d be like, ‘Yes, I love you. Let’s get out of this house!’ For me, not to put it on anyone else, but for me it felt like I was trapped in a burning building. I was just so unhappy and it was my dream job and I was miserable and I had to leave.”

After Bush’s exit, news later broke that her costar Jason Beghe he was previously investigated by NBC for volatile behavior and offensive comments.

“I am deeply sorry for my behavior, which I know has hurt my friends and colleagues,” he said in a statement. “I’ve struggled with anger issues for a while, and over the past year, I’ve been working with a coach to help me learn how to reduce my temper. It’s an ongoing process, and it’s been a humbling one.

The actress went on to detail her experience on the show in her new memoir, And I’ll Tell You Myself: Notes from Life That Goes On. While Bush has gone into more detail about what happened behind the scenes – he has still chosen not to reveal all the details.

“There are 200 people I care deeply about, and their jobs are their families’ lifeline. It’s not my place to choose when to speak for other people who aren’t ready and probably never will be,” she told Variety in October 2026 about the parts of her story she wrote in her memoir. “That’s part of the reason it took us so long after Wilmington. It takes people a lot of time, and I think that’s fine. I think this response that women can’t speak after a certain time is so strange.

Bush said her memoir about her time on Chicago PD had a “discursive version,” explaining to Entertainment Weekly, “What I realized was that the most important thing I could offer anyone was how I was handling something for myself, how I came to admit how deep that imprinting went — that was the worst of my life.”

The actress did not mind a possible response from holding back on the page.

“I think people will say, maybe, ‘That’s not enough, put it on the page.’ The black and white nature of internet ideas versus the complexity of life, I had to figure out how to move away. I have the other stuff, but I didn’t need to put it out there,” she continued. “What felt more important to me was to really highlight that for some reason we blame women for the way men treat them and how scary it was for me to be told that you can’t have a problem with two men because people will say it’s your fault.”

Keep scrolling for the biggest revelations from Bush about her tenure Chicago PD – and after leaving:

Breaking down the timeline

“When I sat down my bosses – it was the summer between seasons 3 and 4 – and I said, “This is where we are. Here’s everything you need to know. This is how I come to you today. “Because I understand how the business works and how women are treated – I said, ‘I’m not giving you two weeks’ notice and I’m not coming in here throwing s*** and breaking lamps and saying I’m never coming back.’

Bush said it was hard for her to see the fans’ reaction when she left the show, saying, “I had to respect myself in a situation where I didn’t feel respected.

Talking to Jason Beghe Commentary

After Beghe spoke about his research, Bush appeared to respond with an angry post on Instagram in 2018, which read, “WELCOME. Sex abusers rebrand their bad physical behavior as “anger management issues. I’m frustrated, really.

Offers more details

Bush opened up on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast about her decision to leave Chicago PD after realizing it was affecting her health.

“I realized that because I thought I was a difficult person, doing the thing, showing up to work, I programmed myself to accept the unbearable,” she said in the 2018 episode. “I quit because, what I learned is that I’ve been so programmed to be a good girl and be a workhorse and be a tugboat prioritized the ship for the team, for the show, for the group, ahead of my own health…

Bush continued: “I gave in and so, I lived in that role of ‘pulling the tugboat’ to the point where just because I’m unhappy or I’m mistreated or I’m abused at work, I’m not going to get this job for all these people and what about the camera guy who has the two girls that I love and this is how he will pay the rent for you, if he becomes your boss so much. You will cost everyone the work, you will believe them.”

Despite the efforts to try to stay, the actress finally realized that it was not possible.

“At the end of my tenure there, it was probably difficult for me to be around because I was in so much pain and I felt that I didn’t feel that much,” she said before explaining how she felt towards a colleague. “I feel like I was standing naked, bruised and bleeding in the middle of Times Square, screaming at the top of my lungs and not one person stopped to ask if they could help me.”

Initial indications of cases

According to Bush’s 2026 memoir, she experienced a lot of abusive behavior behind the scenes, writing, “An inappropriate comment. Raised voice. Hair pulling. Breath held. Jaw clenched. Fist clenched. Fist connecting to flesh. And then, worse. Much worse.”

She continued: “Things that were done when there were fewer people in the room, but the rooms were never empty. There were averted eyes, silent complaints, and whispers when something went wrong. The experience of our set was the one that was talked about everything else.

Bush initially chose to remain silent.

“At the time, no one knew. It wasn’t true. It’s not enough. That’s what I told myself, anyway. I’ve been told that I’m extremely hyperactive, but until then, I’d just called it a ‘professional,'” she wrote. to take your integrity. You can take it. I had a few years of beautiful seats in between, but a decade of training doesn’t cut you – and in this enhanced version of getting my ability to test? I moved back into that rhythm.

Changing to stay on display

Bush wrote that she cut her hair shorter and shorter to avoid hair pulling, tried to “make less noise,” and ignored the instinct to leave despite physical symptoms of stress including hives, weight changes and more.

Hearing from Costa

Bush recalled receiving a text from him the day he ran an article about the investigation that took place on set.

“My stomach dropped when I saw his name on my lock screen,” she wrote. “I thought about what he might be trying to say to me. I opened it and saw that the message was just the link to the cleaning piece. No other words. As if my boogeyman on the other end was saying, ‘Gotcha, you f***ing little bitch,’ as he had called me more than once at work. The article claimed he was sorry and didn’t accept my sorry. Not everyone apologized. It was important.

Getting treated

According to EW, Bush wrote about receiving treatment for PTSD after Chicago PD

“It felt more important to me to think about how difficult it can be when you consider yourself a strong person or a capable person or an advocate to admit that you can no longer do something – that’s a lesson that was not given to me,” she told the outlet. “Every lesson I learned was, ‘Be professional, work through it no matter what. Always put everyone else first. Be good, be good, be good.’ Finally I had to say, ‘Oh, I’m allowed to be done. And nobody ever taught me that.’ If I can offer that to another young woman, it will be worth it.”