‘One Tree Hill’ How Bethany Joy Lenz Escaped A Cult

One Tree Hill dominated in the early early 2000s. It premiered with its first episode in 2003 and continued for nine seasons. Shows never land that many seasons unless they’re really good! Over the years, One Tree Hill has been compared to other teen dramas like Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, and Dawson’s Creek.

One actress who took a leading role in the show was Bethany Joy Lenz. She played Haley James Scott, a teenage girl who somehow got along with the unpopular crowd and the popular crowd. In real life, Bethany‘s world wasn’t always super peachy. It turns out, she was involved with a problematic cult. She felt stuck in it until she was able to come up with an escape plan. These are the details.

Bethany Joy Lenz Escaped A Cult

Even though Bethany appeared to be living a great life while filming One Tree Hill, she was actually living a double life. Her focus wasn’t solely on showing up to play Haley believably for the hit show. She was also deeply focused on an aggressively religious group run by a pastor living in Idaho. The pastor was incredibly shady since his goal was to control Bethany in all areas of her life.

That included her acting career and her bank account. Bethany penned a memoir describing the trauma she endured called Dinner for Vampires Life on a Cult TV Show (While also in an Actual Cult!) The book will be available for buyers to purchase and read on October 22, 2024. Bethany got honest about her past in the cult with People Magazine, saying:

“I don’t think of it as brave. I think of it as important. Living silently in the suffering, I experienced, I don’t know if that helps anyone. I think of this more as the right thing to do. I had always been looking for a place to belong. We crave that kind of intimacy. The idea that someone out there says, ‘No matter what you do or how badly you might behave or what dumb choices you make, I still love you, and I’m here for you.’”

Bethany Joy Lenz’s Divorce Was Connected To Her Escape

She went on to talk about the moment she felt things were starting to morph into something out of her control. She said at first, everything looked and felt normal. By the time it started switching into something chaotic, she believed she was too deeply involved to walk away.

 

 

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She also said she’d continually justify her presence in the cult by trying to convince herself that she wasn’t actually in a cult at all. After marrying Michael Galeotti, who was also part of the cult, she realized she wanted out. Bethany’s escape went hand in hand with filing for divorce.

What are your thoughts on Bethany‘s honesty about her young adult years spent in a cult? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.