One Tree HIll Star Bethany Joy Lenz Says She Was In a Cult for 10 Years

By Nicole Drum

One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz says she spent ten years in a cult. The revelation came during the latest episode of the Drama Queens podcast Lenz hosts with former costars Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton. In the episode, Lenz said that has been writing about the decade-long experience privately and hopes to someday be able to release a book about the experience.

"I was in a cult for 10 years," Lenz said (via ET Canada). "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 didn't reveal a lot in the way of details about the cult, but she spoke about feeling "the pressure of getting it right and everything having to be exactly real and all the people that are involved." She also spoke about possible legal concerns as well.

"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," she said. "But I do write. I write all the time."

While Lenz didn't publicly identify the cult, she says she was involved with, the actress does have a history of calling out organizations that she feels display cult-like behavior. In 2021, she called out the Mosaic Church in Los Angeles in an Instagram post.

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"So many people are being misled in the name of a God I love and cherish, I feel I have a responsibility to speak up for anyone willing to hear it," Lenz wrote in part. "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 continued, "Healthy Pastors are supposed to be teaching us how to have our own relationship with Jesus with or without church leaders. If u just visit on Sunday for a little pick-up and then never interact w Mosaic otherwise— you'll never see what I'm talking about. But for those of you IN it, behind the scenes... you are not crazy. There's nothing wrong with you that isn't wrong with everyone else. And you can't earn Gods love by trying harder and doing better. If you feel like you're being controlled- you are."

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