Rachel Bilson reveals Rami Malek reached out after throwback photo drama: 'We’re all good'

The Oscar winner had previously asked 'The OC' actress to remove a photograph she had shared of the two in high school

Rami Malek and Rachel Bilson went to high school together. Reuters, Instagram / rachelbilson

She revealed in March that she was "super-bummed" when Rami Malek asked her to take down a photo of him from social media, but Rachel Bilson has confirmed the former high-school friends are now "all good".

The OC actress, who studied at California's Notre Dame High School alongside the Oscar winner, said there is no bad blood between the pair, revealing Malek reached out after the story made headlines.

"Rami and I actually have talked since that came out. He connected with me, and we're all good," Bilson, 39, told the LadyGang podcast on Tuesday.

"He was so sweet and we're totally fine now and we talked about it and we're good."

The incident stems back to 2019, though only became public knowledge last month, after Bilson recounted the situation on Dax Shepard's podcast Armchair Expert.

The actress revealed she had posted a photo of the pair, taken during a school trip to Broadway in New York City, as Malek was on his historic Best Actor winning spree for his role in Bohemian Rhapsody.

Malek, Bilson said, then messaged her privately and asked her to delete the photo.

"I wrote to him a really nice message, like, 'I'm so sorry. Go get the Oscar, you're doing amazing.' And I never hear anything back," she said.

“We were good friends, and I'm a big fan of not taking yourself seriously, especially at that level of fame and talent. But look, he wants to be super-respected, it's his thing, so I respected it."

US-born Malek, whose parents are Egyptian immigrants, made history that year, becoming the first actor of Arab descent to win a Best Actor Oscar.

While the actor has not responded to the incident publicly, Bilson told the LadyGang podcast he was "really gracious" when he reached out after the story went viral.

"I totally understood where he was coming from and he understood me. And I was just so happy we were able to squash it and, like, move on," she said.

The actress added that she was "mortified" the story had gained traction.

"I had to go to therapy that day, and I was like, ‘I am having anxiety. I did not want this to resurface in this way. I feel so bad. Oh my god, Rami is going to think I'm doing this again," she said.

"It actually turned out to be a good thing for a reason, because Malek and I were able to reconnect and, like, make it better and everything is great."