‘One Tree Hill’ Star Bethany Joy Lenz Reveals Shocking Details About Years in Alleged Cult
In a forthcoming memoir, Bethany Joy Lenz will detail “her decade in a cult and her quest to break free,” which overlapped with her time on One Tree Hill, according to a book description from publisher Simon & Schuster.
In that memoir, Dinner for Vampires — due to be released on October 22 — Lenz recalls falling in with a Bible study group with other Hollywood creatives, a group that “soon morphed into something more sinister — a slowly woven web of manipulation, abuse, and fear under the guise of a church covenant called The Big House Family,” Simon & Schuster says.
“Piece by piece, Lenz began to give away her autonomy, ultimately relocating to the Family’s Pacific Northwest compound, overseen by a domineering minister who would convince Lenz to marry one of his sons and steadily drained millions of her TV income without her knowledge,” the publisher adds.
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The actor’s time with The Big House Family also involved “minders” from the organization following her on set, plus “Maoist struggle session”-inspired meetings in the basement of a filthy house, Simon & Schuster’s book description says. Lenz ultimately left The Big House Family after she became a mother — and with the help of a One Tree Hill superfan, according to the publisher.
Lenz previously discussed spending 10 years in a cult in a 2023 interview with Variety, saying that her One Tree Hill costars tried to help her during that time. “For a while, they were all trying to save me and rescue me, which is lovely and so amazing to be cared about in that way,” she said. “But I was very stubborn. I was really committed to what I believed were the best choices I could make.”
After the 2012 end of that CW series, Lenz recurred on Dexter, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., American Gothic, Colony, and Grey’s Anatomy, and had a supporting role on the Suits spinoff Pearson. Last year, she starred in the Hallmark Channel movie A Biltmore Christmas.
