Craig Sheffer was the One Tree Hill costar Bethany Joy Lenz identified as the person who directly warned her: “You know you’re in a cult, right?” Lenz also said her castmates knew about her ties to the group, but the October 2024 report does not name everyone who was aware or say that others confronted her.
What Craig Sheffer said to Bethany Joy Lenz
In a PEOPLE exclusive republished by AOL on October 17, 2024, Lenz recalled that the exchange took place about a year into her role as Haley James Scott. She and Sheffer were sitting on bleachers during filming of a basketball scene at Laney High School when he asked about her family.
Lenz described the close-knit religious friends she considered her “chosen family.” She had met them through a Bible study, and they lived in a commune-like house in Idaho. According to her account, Sheffer responded, “You know you’re in a cult, right?”
Which other cast members knew?
Lenz said she felt she was leading a double life between acting and her commitment to the group. She described her castmates as aware of her ties and recalled, “I could see it on their faces.” The report does not identify which other cast members knew, so it does not support a complete list of people who were aware.
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How Lenz said she responded
Lenz said she laughed off Sheffer’s warning at the time. She recalled dismissing the idea of being in a cult because it did not match her image of one: “Cults are weird. Cults are people in robes chanting crazy things and drinking Kool-Aid. That’s not what we do!”
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In the 2024 account, Lenz said it took eight more years for her to see the group as a cult and leave, for her daughter’s sake. She also described her own reasoning in retrospect: “I don’t know that I like the term brainwashing. We convince ourselves of things all the time, and I think I just decided what I wanted to believe.” These are Lenz’s reflections on her experience, not an outside diagnosis.
Lenz’s later connection to the cast
The October 2024 article reported that Lenz was attending One Tree Hill reunions and had taken part in the Drama Queens rewatch podcast with Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton. Lenz said reconnecting with her castmates made her happy. Those details describe the situation as reported in 2024, rather than establishing current reunion or podcast status.
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Where to read Lenz’s longer account
The same article identified Lenz’s memoir as Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While Also in An Actual Cult!) and reported its October 22, 2024 release. Readers seeking her fuller account can look to the memoir; the report’s preorder information reflects its publication period, not current price or availability.
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