Mischa Barton, who earlier this year was rocked by reports that a sex tape of her was being shopped around to porn outlets, told Dr. Phil McGraw in an interview that she felt “very conned” by the person she alleges is behind the sex tape.
In an interview scheduled to air on “Dr. Phil” on Monday, the former “The O.C.” star, who believes an ex-boyfriend is responsible for the tape, said, “I didn’t know him for that long — it was, like, three, four weeks, it was very fast. I mean, I feel very conned by the whole thing. It’s somebody I trusted, somebody I thought I loved. I really did think that.”
Asked by McGraw if she felt she was targeted and if the alleged sex-tape plot was premeditated, the actress — whose lawyer has said that Barton was the victim of “revenge pornography” — replied, “Sadly, yes.”
“It is sinister. Again, I loved this person and I really thought I could trust them. But there’s no way it wasn’t premeditated if from the second you start seeing somebody they’re doing that to you. That is — that, to me, is premeditated.”
In March, the Daily Mail reported that an “x-rated video” featuring Barton “is being shopped around Hollywood.”
According to the Daily Mail’s report, the video “shows Barton having sex with a dark haired man” and “is being offered to the highest bidder with the starting price of $500,000.”
In a subsequent press conference with her attorney Lisa Bloom, Barton told reporters, “I’ve been put through an incredibly hard and trying time. This is a painful situation, and my absolute worst fear was realized when I learned that someone I thought I loved and trusted was filming my most intimate and private moments, without my consent with hidden cameras.”
The actress added, “And then I learned something even worse — that somebody is trying to sell these videos and make them public.”
Barton has obtained restraining orders against two ex-boyfriends, Jon Zacharias and Adam Shaw. The orders state that Zacharias and Shaw “may not sell, distribute, give away or show any naked photos or videos of any type of Mischa Barton.”
According to the orders, Barton began dating Zacharias in October, and during their “brief time together” he “recorded me having sex with him, taking a shower and took other naked pictures of me WITHOUT MY PERMISSION OR KNOWLEDGE. Jon is trying to sell those tapes without my permission for $500,000.”