“Bridgerton” star Ruby Barker called out Netflix and Shondaland after claiming she suffered “two psychotic breaks” while filming the series.
During an interview on Oxford University’s “The LOAF Podcast” Saturday, Barker alleged that she didn’t receive any support from production when she had her first breakdown in 2019 and her second in 2022.
“Not a single person from Netflix, not a single person from Shondaland, since I have had two psychotic breaks from that show, have even contacted me or even emailed me to ask me if I’m OK or ask me if I would benefit from any sort of aftercare or support,” she said.
“Nobody.”
The British actress explained her experience on set was isolating due to the storyline involving her character, Marina, who had to conceal a disgraceful pregnancy.
“During the filming, I was deteriorating,” Barker, 26, continued. “It was a really tormenting place for me to be because my character was very alienated, very ostracized, on her own under these horrible circumstances.”
The actress said she landed in the hospital for the first time after shooting Season 1 of “Bridgerton.”
“It was really covered up and kept on the down-low because the show was going to be coming out,” she said, reflecting back on 2019.
At the time, Barker felt pressure to keep up with her life in the limelight as her career took off.
“My life was changing drastically overnight and yet there was still no support and there still hasn’t been any support all that time,” she said.
“So I was trying really, really hard to act like it was fine … that I could work and that it wasn’t a problem.”
Netflix and Shondaland did not immediately respond to Pvnew’s request for comment.
After her second psychotic break, Barker told fans via Instagram that she had been “really unwell for a really long time.”
“I was carrying the weight of the world on my back, and now I am at the point where I have a diagnosis, and I will talk to you about that at another time,” she said in May 2022.
“I can’t carry on the way that I’ve been carrying on. I need to change, so that’s what I am trying to do. I want to survive, and I will survive. I am going to.”
