Kailyn Lowry/MTV "Teen Mom" alum Kailyn Lowry talked about one of her friends being in a "cult" on "Barely Famous."
“Teen Mom” alum Kailyn Lowry talked about one of her friends being in a “cult,” during a new podcast interview on “Barely Famous.”
Lowry sat down with actor Lola Blanc, known for “American Horror Story,” and actor Meagan Grainger. Both Blanc and Grainger are survivors of a cult, and run their own podcast, “Trust Me.”
Lowry said she felt powerless when her friend was involved in the rumored cult, which she didn’t identify by name.
“I have a friend who was in a cult for a short time, and when you’re in a state of, like, almost, like, brainwashing, you can’t convince them to get out and like, everything that I was saying to her, she was, like, not receptive, you know what I’m saying?” she said on the July 1 episode of “Barely Famous.”
“And I’m like; ‘I’m trying to help you, not fight with you,’ you know what I mean? And trying to tell these other people that she was, like, recruiting, like this is not what you think it is. This is a cult… and I don’t even think she realized it was a cult,” she said.
“And we haven’t talked about it since,” Lowry added. “Like, since she got out, which I don’t really know how she got out. We have never really talked about it.”
Messer Has Ties to MITT, Which Faced Accusations of Being a Cult
Lowry didn’t mention Messer by name, though Messer posted about being in Mastery in Transformational Training (MITT), which has been accused of being a cult by former members.
In leaked messages obtained by Radar Online, Lowry was purportedly worried about Messer in December 2019.
“I really don’t know what to do. I don’t want to lose her as a friend, but I also don’t think any of this is ok,” she said in the messages, though the authenticity of those messages was not confirmed by Lowry. “Unfortunately those programs target weak people who can be manipulated.”
Rumors that MITT was a cult swirled in 2018 after GQ published an article about the self-improvement seminars being controlling.
Lowry & Messer Had a Falling Out
Lowry has a longstanding feud with former co-star Briana DeJesus — and that feud reportedly encapsulated Messer after the West Virginia native befriended DeJesus on “Teen Mom: Family Reunion.”
Lowry unfollowed Messer on Instagram in March 2022 — though she denied it had anything to do with Messer fraternizing with DeJesus.
DeJesus told a different version to her fans during a Q&A on Instagram.
“Kail unfollowed Leah on IG. You think she’s mad that you are Leah are friends? lol” they wrote.
“That’s what I was told. Leah liked one of my self growth post and [Kail] got upset with her. Told Leah we don’t need to be friends if she cherishes that friendship more but Leah said she’s grown and can be friends with whoever she wants,” DeJesus answered.
An insider shed a little more light on the story when speaking with The Sun.
“Kail unfollowing Leah comes down to Briana,” the source told The Sun. “Once Briana and Leah were on the ‘Teen Mom: Family Reunion’ and Leah wasn’t mean to Briana, that didn’t sit well with Kail.”
“While Kail used to comment all the time on Leah’s pics, that seemed to stop once Briana began commenting and, as we’ve all seen, Kail now unfollowed Leah,” the insider added to The Sun.
When Lowry came up at the “Teen Mom” reunion, Messer walked off the stage, saying she didn’t want to talk about someone who wasn’t there.