One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz has revealed that it was an “open” secret that she was in a cult during their ten years filming in North Carolina.
The actress, who will release her new single ‘Strawberries,’ on August 18 2023, has opened up in a new interview about her time in what she calls a cult, which began after she moved to a new state and joined a Bible study group.
© The WB“I went to another Wednesday night Bible study and that’s all it was to me. But the friendships seemed deeper, more vulnerable somehow, as time went on,” she told Variety, before adding that her castmates including Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton knew about what was happening in her personal life.
“It was open with them — it was the whisper behind the scenes, like ‘You know, she’s in a cult.’ 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. But I was very stubborn,” said Bethany, acknowledging that it “built a deep wedge of distrust between me and my cast and crew”.
However she also praised the show for saving her life, because it forced her to spend time out of her hometown and with other people nine months out of the year, adding: “I think that spatial separation made a big difference when it was time for me to wake up.”
© The WBThe 42-year-old mom-of-one, added that she felt she “squandered so many opportunities” because of the cult, believing that she was “making a noble, spiritual sacrifice”. The actress shared that she is still working through the trauma but calls it a “miracle in and of itself, the fact that I even still believe in God”.
She married musician Michael Galeotti in 2005 and n 2012 she gave birth to their daughter, Maria Rose. Bethany and Michael divorced in 2012, and he sadly passed away in 2016.
© Axelle/Bauer-GriffinIn 2021 she took to Instagram to call out megachurch Mosiac, and alleged a culture of “control” that reminded her “of a high-demand group,” another word for a cult.
“The hierarchy in this “church”, the level of abuse that I’ve consistently heard goes on behind the scenes and how everything centers around the Leader is textbook 101 of cults. And usually, unless you’re in the inner circle, it’s much harder to spot,” she shared.
Bethany, Sophia and Hilarie host their own podcast, Drama Queens, which follows them rewatching the hit series and sharing their own memories.
They have also opened up on the harassment they faced on set and in 2022 the three claimed that the show’s producers had coerced them into a 2006 Maxim cover shoot, alleging that showrunner Mark Schwan threatened their careers if they refused.
© Steve GranitzSophia starred as Brooke in the drama, and said on the episode that she had already battled the writers to make the teen less sexual.
“I was like, ‘look, if the girls want to do it, that’s great. I don’t. I have gone into battle trying to make Brooke less of this thing that you guys tried to force me into. I don’t want to do it,'” she said. “I literally got told, ‘If you do not go and shoot this cover with your co-stars, we will guarantee you that you will never be let out for a press day, a movie, an event, any of your charities. We will keep you here forever’.
“It was such a profound threat.”
© Kevin WinterIn 2017, many members of the cast and crew accused Schwan of sexual harassment.
The three women, along with Torrey DeVitto, were among those to sign the letter, which claimed they were “to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally
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