One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz is opening up about getting lured into a cult for an entire decade — and the details are harrowing! Best known for playing the role of Hayley James Scott on the famous WB drama series. However, what her cast members including Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray didn’t know was that Lenz was part of a high-control extremist religious group while they were filming the show.
In an interview with PEOPLE, the One Tree Hill actress shared that she stumbled upon the cult after joining a Bible study group when she moved to Los Angeles at the age of 20. The leader was a manipulative pastor named Les, who slowly took complete control over her career and finances. The situation escalated when she and the other members were convinced to move into a commune in Idaho where they couldn’t escape Les’s scrutiny.
Over the years, her One Tree Hill costars became aware of Lenz’s involvement in the cult. In fact, Craig Sheffer, who played Keith Scott on the show directly confronted her about it and asked her to leave. But Lenz recalls being in complete denial. While speaking of her costar’s concern, Lenz said: “I could see it on their faces. But I’d justify it, like, ‘I couldn’t possibly be in a cult.’” She confessed that because she was so young, the cult members were her only friends at the time, which is why it was hard for her to admit that something was wrong.
Bethany Joy Lenz Married Her Cult Leader’s Son
During her appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast with Alexandra Cooper, the American actress and songwriter shared how she ended up marrying her cult leader’s son, Michael Galeotti at a young age. She confessed that the two of them had nothing in common, but she couldn’t avoid the “arranged situation” that Les had set up between them.
The actress opened up about not having any desire to be intimate with her ex-husband which was seen as a problem by their cult leader. Lenz and her now-ex were given a schedule to get intimate with each other. As much as she hated being forced like this, she believed this was her duty as a wife.
In 2011, Lenz gave birth to her daughter Rosie which is when she realized that she wanted to leave both her marriage and the cult. in her memoir, Dinner For Vampires, Lenz shares the aftermath of escaping the cult with her daughter and writes: “I’m still healing. It’s just day by day. Person by person. Interaction by interaction.” As far as her ex-husband is concerned, during the Call Her Daddy podcast, Lenz shared that she has no bad blood toward him because he was raised by a narcissist and forced into marriage with a girl who wasn’t right for him.
Bethany Joy Lenz currently co-hosts the rewatch podcast Drama Queens, with fellow One Tree Hill stars Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton. All seasons of One Tree Hill are available to stream on Hulu.
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One Tree Hill |
|---|---|
| Cast | Chad Michael Murray, James Lafferty, Bethany Joy Lenz, Hilarie Burton, Sophia Bush, Paul Johansson |
| First Aired | September 23, 2003 |
| Stream On | Hulu, HBO Max, CW Seed |
| Created by | Mark Schwahn |
| Produced by | Joe Davola, Mark Schwahn, Mike Tollin, Brian Robbins |
| Plot Summary | Follows the lives of two half-brothers, Lucas and Nathan Scott, as they navigate their relationships, basketball careers, and personal struggles in the small town of Tree Hill. |
| Musical Elements | Features a mix of alternative rock, pop, and indie music, with performances by cast members like Bethany Joy Lenz and appearances by popular bands such as Fall Out Boy and Angels & Airwaves. |
| Current Status | Concluded on April 4, 2012, with 9 seasons available for streaming. |
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