Bethany Joy Lenz revealed the name of the “cult” she spent ten years in in her upcoming memoir, Dinner for Vampires.
The One Tree Hill actress, 42, took to Instagram on Thursday to announce the pre-sale of her tell-all, in which she recalled the “manipulation, abuse and fear” she experienced in what she thought was a church union.
In her book, a memoir about her “life on a cult TV show while also being in a real cult,” she said she was under the control of The Big House Family’s “dominant minister” for a decade before she eventually left.
In her book description op Simon & Schuster On the publisher’s official website, she said he convinced her to marry his son and stole millions of dollars of her television earnings from One Tree Hill, which ran for nine seasons from 2003 to 2012.
The Drama Queens podcast host previously revealed in July 2023 that she was working on a memoir about the decade she spent in a cult and the subsequent decade she spent healing from the “deep trauma.”
Bethany Joy Lenz revealed the name of the “cult” she spent ten years in in her upcoming memoir, Dinner for Vampires. The One Tree Hill actress, 42, took to Instagram on Thursday to announce the pre-sale of her tell-all, in which she recalled the “manipulation, abuse and fear” she experienced in what she thought was a church union.
In her book, a memoir about her “life on a cult TV show while also being in a real cult,” she said she was under the control of The Big House Family’s “dominant minister” for a decade before she eventually left.
The Drama Queens podcast host previously revealed in July 2023 that she was working on a memoir about the 10 years she spent in a cult and the subsequent decade she spent healing from the “deep trauma”; seen in September 2022
In her Instagram caption alongside an image of her recently unveiled book cover, she announced that pre-sale orders were available for “my memoir about the decade I spent in an abusive group that took advantage of high demand.”
“Being a writer has been a great, personal joy in my life since I was about 12,” she wrote. “This isn’t the first book I thought I’d write publicly, but as difficult as this topic is to untangle, I’m grateful to share my story in my way.
She called her story one of “forgiveness and a roadmap for how manipulation works” with “heartache and humor” woven in between.
She wrote the book because she wanted to remind people that everyone makes mistakes and “whatever strange paths you’ve taken, you’re not alone.”
The book description recalled that Lenz was cast as one of the leads of One Tree Hill.
Even though her career was on the rise, her personal life “slowly began to fall apart” because no one, not even her fans or co-stars, knew she was living a “secret double life in a cult.”
The story described Lenz as “an only child who often had to fend for herself and always wanted a place where he belonged” and found what she thought was a “safe haven” in “a Bible study group with other Hollywood creatives.”
However, she had become entangled in “a slowly woven web of manipulation, abuse and fear under the guise of a church alliance called The Big House Family.”
In her book description on the official website of publisher Simon & Schuster, she said he convinced her to marry his son and stole millions of dollars from her television earnings from One Tree Hill, which ran for nine seasons from 2003 to 2012.
The Drama Queens podcast host previously revealed in July 2023 that she was working on a memoir about the 10 years she spent in a cult and the subsequent decade she spent healing from the “deep trauma.”
She only “found the courage to leave” ten years later, when she gave birth to her child and became a mother because she wanted to “spare her child a similar fate.” She gave birth to her only child, daughter Maria Rose, 13, in 2011
In December 2005, the singer-songwriter married Michael Galeotti, formerly of the band Enation. She shares daughter Maria Rose with the late musician
She wrote about losing her autonomy and later moving to the sect’s Pacific Northwest compound “under the supervision of a domineering minister who would convince Lenz to marry one of his sons and steadily steal millions of her TV revenue without her knowledge.” would take away’.
In December 2005, the singer-songwriter married the late musician Michael Galeotti, formerly of the band Enation.
The couple gave birth to daughter Maria Rose, now 13, her only child, in 2011.
Four years after their divorce in January 2016, he tragically passed away at the age of 31 from atherosclerotic heart disease.
Within the sect, she said, there were “family caretakers” who kept an eye on her on set, as well as “Maoist struggle session”-inspired meetings in a “filthy” basement.
In her book, she also talked about “regular guidance,” whom she called “Leadership,” which she said kept her under their control.
She only “found the courage to leave” ten years later, when she gave birth to her child and became a mother because she wanted to “spare her child a similar fate.”
She also credited the “unlikely help” of a One Tree Hill superfan who helped her “escape the family’s clutches and begin to heal.”
Dinner for Vampires will be available in bookstores from October 22.