Rachel Bilson says she’s “floored” after reportedly losing a job over comments she made on a podcast.
While speaking about Monday’s episode of her Broad ideas podcast, the actress says: “It’s been an interesting week, guys. This is the first time in my professional life that it has ever happened to me that I lost a job this week because of things that were said and then circulated in the press and headlines and whatever. I lost my first job.”
She goes on to explain: “I was taken away from a job because I talked frankly and openly about sex in a humorous way on our friend’s podcast… I actually got a job, which I already had, taken away from me because I spoke openly about sex.”
She says she is “baffled” by the decision “in this day and age” and reiterates, “A single mom, a woman, lost a job because they were open and honest and the topic was sex. I didn’t even get a chance to put myself to defend.”
The comments Bilson is referring to come from her interview on the Women on top podcast, where she discussed her favorite and least favorite sex positions. After sharing that she likes being “mistreated,” Bilson later clarified that it was meant to be a light-hearted statement.
“First of all, I said it jokingly in the interview, like, ‘Yeah, I want to be fucking assaulted.’ Basically, it’s like, okay, give control or take control in the bedroom, whatever,” she explains Broad ideas.
“Because that particular line was drawn and it sounded a certain way, I didn’t even get a chance to defend myself. I haven’t had a chance to talk about it,” she says, later explaining that the brand (which she was involved with) “said they weren’t comfortable with that headline…I feel like it’s discrimination. ‘ She also says she felt “embarrassed” by the unnamed company.
Bilson does not disclose what the job was.
She also admits that she “cries” after everything and reflects on the impact of this experience on her family: “I’m a single mom. Like I need these jobs…everything counts. You know, I care a lot for my family – my daughter – and regardless of everything else, it all matters.
Bilson recalls growing up in “a very open household where things were talked about” and sex was talked about “in a sacred way.” However, after losing this job, she says she still feels “floored”. “Everything started to move and I lost the track. It sucks,” she adds.
Whatever happened, Bilson stands by her comments, saying, “I didn’t say anything inappropriate. Choice of language, if I could go back, now that I know I lost a job, I might say it differently. But I still wouldn’t say no.
