Bethany Joy Lenz to detail long recovery after escaping cult in debut memoir
Bethany Joy Lenz, best known by many for her role on the teen soap "One Tree Hill," is set to reveal details about how she got mired in a cult and eventually escaped in a memoir to be released later this year.
In an Instagram post announcing the presale for her debut memoir, Dinner for Vampires, the actress said last week the book would detail "the decade I spent in an abusive, high-demand group (aka, cult).”
"I’m grateful I get to share my story, my way. It’s a story of forgiveness and a roadmap to how manipulation works, with heartache and humor along the way," she wrote. "We all make mistakes and I hope Dinner for Vampires reminds you that, no matter what weird roads you’ve gone down, you’re not alone."
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The memoir, slated for release in October, details Lenz’s life as she navigated working in the entertainment industry while minders from the cult, known as the Big House Family, accompanied her on set.
Lenz also relocated to the cult's compound in the Pacific Northwest and married one of the minister's sons. She spent over a decade with the cult until she got pregnant and had a baby. Becoming a mother, she said, gave her the strength to leave, she told Variety.
“So many people are being misled in the name of a God I love and cherish,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I feel I have a responsibility to speak up for anyone willing to hear it.”
On an episode of the "Drama Queens" podcast last year, Lenz, joined by former co-stars Hilarie Burton Morgan, Sophia Bush and guest Michaela McManus, discussed her journey.
"That would be a really valuable experience to write about, and the recovery — 10 years of recovery after that. So there's a lot to tell," Lenz said, adding that there are things about the cult that she cannot mention due to ongoing litigation.
"Also, I don't know how much I can say because there are still people and legal things in place that make it more complicated for the timing of that.”
Last year, Lenz shared her heartbrokenness over the death of notable author and Pastor Timothy Keller, who died at the age of 72 on May 19, 2023.
“This man changed my life. The only reason I’m still a Christian today is because, 10 years ago, after many years of faith being used against me as a tool of manipulation, Tim Keller taught me how to re-build my faith using reason and logic. A belief system that fully engages my mind while still leaving room for wonder and mystery,” Lenz said in an Instagram post in May 2023.
“I am so much more confident and secure in my faith now than I’ve ever been, because of Tim Keller’s teachings and the relief they gave me to trust again and fall in love with a Jesus I never knew,” she continued.
“His is a trustworthy, humble, researched, rational and compassionate voice that God once used to bring me out of a pit of despair, walk me through intense healing and into the glorious freedom of the real Christ. I will forever be grateful for the day I walked into Redeemer Presbyterian church on the Upper East Side in 1999. Thank you for everything, Tim. I’m so glad for you to rest in His arms.”
Nicole VanDyke is a reporter for The Christian Post.
