Even by the standards of a Hollywood drama, the claims made by One Tree Hill actress Bethany Joy Lenz about being drawn into a warped cult that saw her forced to live in a commune and hand over more than $1m of her earnings are shocking.
But while Lenz, 43, has spent the past two weeks doubling down on her lurid allegations over the course of multiple interviews and has aired them in detail in her new memoir, an investigation by DailyMail.com has found not everything is as it seems.
In Lenz’s telling, her fame as girl-next-door Haley James Scott on the popular teen drama, One Tree Hill, hid a reality that involved marrying the son of a charismatic ‘cult leader’ who had drawn her into his world after she began attending his bible studies classes after moving to LA in her early twenties.
Bethany Joy Lenz’s allegations about her father-in-law being a cult leader are nothing but a ploy to hang on to her 2000s fame, Michael Galeotti claims
Lenz (far right) starred in the hit 2000s drama One Tree Hill with Lee Norris, Antwon Tanner, Sophia Bush, Chad Michael Murray, Hilarie Burton and James Lafferty
Michael Galeotti said Lenz’s claims are ‘not how it went down’ and says that he wants to protect his granddaughter Maria
‘Brainwashed’ and besotted, she left California behind to relocate to a small town in Washington where she moved into the ‘Big House’ – a multimillion-dollar mansion that doubled as the headquarters of Wild Branch Ministries.
Lenz says members of the tiny covenant church lived ‘commune-style’ in the ‘squalid’ property and were expected to hand over most of their earnings to alleged cult boss ‘Papa’ Mike Galeotti – a man she describes as being akin to the notorious Keith Raniere of the NXIVM sex cult.
She also claims Galeotti recruited a convicted rapist, who moved into the Big House with other members of the cult, and kept her isolated from her friends and family – including her parents.
Galeotti, who runs a wine bar in Battle Ground, Washington, where Lenz once lived, is the main villain in her new memoir Dinner for Vampires, along with his son – her ex-husband Michael Jr, 40.
White-haired and unassuming, the 62-year-old had a very different take on events when approached by DailyMail.com at his Washington home – calling the allegations aired in the memoir ‘heartbreaking’ and saying his priority is to protect his granddaughter Maria.
‘Everybody sees things a little differently and she’s going to cling to the fame,’ he told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
‘Good for her. She’s going to make a name for herself. But it’s not the way it went down.’
His concerns were echoed by Lenz’s ex-husband Michael, a former rocker with indie band Enation who now works at a Portland-area seafood restaurant.
Lenz had been in a lengthy custody battle over their daughter Maria with her ex-husband and former rocker Michael Jr. Galeotti since their 2012 divorce
Her new memoir, Dinner for Vampires, stated her marriage fell apart when Michael refused to leave his parents at the Big House to move with her to North Carolina
Michael’s friends and family presented their own sworn declarations in the divorce case, insisting Wild Branch was not a cult
Lenz’s filings included a creepy note that claimed Michael Jr. wrote a list of biblical demands she had to follow in her daily life
Like his father, Michael said he is worried about the effect the memoir could have on his 13-year-old daughter, telling DailyMail.com: ‘I don’t know what to make of this memoir after all this time.’
He added: ‘I have a daughter who’s really important to me. I don’t want it to affect her. It’s too much. I don’t really want to cause any problems for her.’
The new book is not the first time Lenz has leveled claims of emotional and spiritual abuse at the Galeottis and their followers, with her allegations of cult-like behavior and malfeasance forming the central theme of her 2012 divorce.
Running to more than 400 claims and counterclaims, the epic legal battle dragged on until 2022 with both sides reopening the custody agreement more than once.
According to the filings, the marriage crumbled when Michael remained ‘severely bonded’ to his parents, refusing to leave his basement digs at the Big House to move with her to North Carolina, where One Tree Hill was filmed.
The pair blamed one another for outbreaks of violence, Lenz accusing Michael of seeing red and punching holes in their walls while he claimed she had hurled a vase and hit him several times.
Her filings also included a creepy note that she claimed Michael wrote and made her pin to the wall when they finally moved to their own house.
‘When I feel wronged, run to Jesus – ask him to show me himself in Michael. Submit to Michael’s (requests?) and humbly trust God to reveal the truth,’ it read.
‘Ask Jesus (pray continually) to reveal to me the meaning of unity and submission.’
Lenz said of the handwritten missive: ‘He expects me to be subservient to him on a daily basis. He instructed me to read this statement every day.’
Michael’s friends and family presented their own sworn declarations, insisting Wild Branch was not a cult. The Big House had ‘taken a good beating’ down the years from the various ‘rambunctious preteens’ and pets that had called it home.
Galeotti owns this wine bar in Battle Ground, Washington, and is the head of the Wild Branch Ministries
Lenz has been on a press tour for her memoir. She appeared on the Call Her Daddy podcast where she claimed she was forced to have a ‘sex schedule’ while married to ‘cult’ leader’s son
The former home of the Galeottis and the headquarters for Wild Branch Ministries – known as ‘The Big House’. Lenz claimed it was filthy from pets and ‘rambunctious preteens’
But it was not as filthy as Lenz described, asserted Rick Jackson, 69, a two-time congressional candidate whose wife Jeanine is portrayed as one of the forces behind Wild Branch by the 43-year-old.
Lenz, however, doubled down and claimed she had been forced to cut off all contact with her biological family during her time in the cult, even writing a heartbreaking email to her devastated dad that read: ‘The Joy you knew is dead.’
History teacher Robert Lenz, 68, received the crushing message from his actress daughter shortly after she came into the Galeotti’s orbit, according to the court papers.
‘(Galeotti) positioned himself as her spiritual leader and substitute father,’ Lenz’s aunt Diane Terraccino wrote in a 2012 court filing obtained by DailyMail.com.
‘Joy’s dad was sensing this pulling away and tried to talk to her about this situation. He had advised her to “run the other way” – but it was too late. This new family had already pulled Joy in.’
But affidavits were also supplied by the Galeottis, with numerous local dignitaries writing in support of the family.
Lenz claimed she was forced to cut off contact with family and friends – sending an email to her father Robert, 68, that said ‘the Joy you knew is dead’
Prominent Wild Branch members Jeanine and Rick Jackson said the allegations against Michael were false, and the group doesn’t coerce people to stay
Annette Hunt supplied a statement praising the United States Marine veteran as an ‘upstanding’ member of the city’s Rotary Club.
The then-division chief of Clark County Fire & Rescue, Michael Ciraulo, said Michael and his father were ‘honorable and exemplary citizens’.
Prominent Wild Branch members Jeanine and Rick Jackson were among Galeotti’s most vociferous defenders.
‘There have been allegations of Mike being overly controlling, and I have even heard the term “cult leader” thrown about by some who used to be a part of the ministry/church that Mike leads,’ Rick Jackson wrote in his declaration.
‘This group does not force or coerce but rather invites each other to love God and each other in ways that have brought dramatic healing (physical and emotional) to many.
‘Any who choose to no longer be a part of this community of faith are of course free to do this at any time. My sons were a part of this and now are not.
‘They were never told they must remain part of this ministry. They have received words of love and blessing.’
Lenz’s other main claim in her memoir relates to the alleged financial damage she suffered due to her earnings being managed by a company called Q-3 – which was controlled by Papa Galeotti, Jeanine Jackson and a third friend, Jeff Quade.
According to Lenz, her signature was forged and her earnings were spirited away into a network of shady accounts to be spent on a string of failing business ventures, including a hotel and an ‘organic, upscale’ restaurant.
But, as with the abuse claims, DailyMail.com discovered that Lenz’s version of events is disputed, with both Jackson and Quade insisting that the reality was quite different.
‘It’s never fun to have things that are untrue out there,’ Jackson said from her home in Battle Ground when approached by DailyMail.com.
Lenz claimed her money was squandered by the church to support a string of shady, failing businesses
Lenz appeared on the Kelly Clarkson show to talk about her memoir
Quade, 54 – listed online as Wild Branch’s organizational head – said Lenz’s version of events was ‘ludicrous.’
‘She just seems to spout things that fit with the narrative that she has created,’ he protested.
‘I don’t have anything to prove or to say really. I mean, she seems to be wanting to stay relevant.’
Despite her protests, the long-running divorce feud ended with Lenz being told that her daughter would be allowed to spend time with the Galeottis, even as she was awarded primary custody and the right to take the child to live with her in LA.
‘There is no basis to restrict the child’s contact with the father’s family or friends. There is no evidence of risk of harm to the child in father’s household,’ Judge James Rulli determined.
DailyMail.com reached out to Lenz to ask whether she ever reported the alleged fraud to law enforcement or initiated any other form of legal redress.Lenz, her manager and the two lawyers involved in her divorce have not responded to DailyMail.com’s requests for comment.
