Cults often conjure images of robed figures and doomsday prophecies, with leaders who appear unstable and out of touch. However, the reality is often much more insidious. Cults thrive by attracting members who blend seamlessly into society, appearing normal and even charming. Leaders are usually charismatic individuals who know how to entice followers. While most cults operate discreetly, some have infiltrated the mainstream, successfully recruiting or producing celebrities – actual A-list celebrities whom the public knows and loves.
8. Scientology
Scientology is perhaps the most well-known cult, making it something of a spectacle. It features complex rules, numerous membership levels, its own navy, thousand-year service contracts, and requires substantial financial commitments from its members.
Scientology is known for its belief in aliens, targeting former members, and its critics, deemed ‘suppressive persons.’ The group even infiltrated the U.S. government to destroy documents related to their activities in an operation known as ‘Operation Snow White.’ The founder’s wife has been missing for years and is presumed dead, although members are required to claim they have seen her and that she is “happy and healthy.”
The cult once designated Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of ‘South Park,’ as suppressive persons, instructing its agents to harass them and scavenge their trash for blackmail material. Scientology is also known for its violent homophobia, often placing gay members in re-education camps that function as cult-operated prisons.
Despite its unsavory reputation, Scientology has attracted celebrities like Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Danny Masterson, and Juliette Lewis.
7. The Family International
Another well-known cult, although less famous than Scientology, is The Family International (TFI). Founded in the late 1960s, the cult has undergone several name changes, starting as ‘The Children of God’ before becoming ‘The Family of Love,’ then simply ‘The Family,’ and finally ‘The Family International’ from 2004 to the present.
TFI is based on Christianity but holds strange views of the Christian Messiah. It believes that humans should serve Jesus as a wife serves a husband, extending even to the men in the cult who are expected to imagine themselves as women.
The cult is also known for rampant child abuse, with former members releasing books and statements and running a website dedicated to sharing experiences and supporting ex-members to shed light on the horrors of childhood within the cult.
TFI hasn’t recruited many celebrities, but it did produce several. Among the ex-members born into the cult are the Phoenix siblings (Rain, River, Joaquin, and Summer) and Rose McGowan. Jeremy Spencer of Fleetwood Mac is a notable celebrity recruit.
6. Breatharianism
Virtually every scientist agrees that humans need food and water to survive. Without them, our bodies begin to consume themselves, leading to death. It’s a universally accepted fact.
However, Breatharians believe that humans can and should live entirely on air and sunlight. Leaders are allowed fruit and vegetable juice, but the rest of the cult is instructed to go as long as possible without food or water, sometimes up to three days without water and a week without nourishment, after which they are permitted a small amount of juice. This practice has resulted in several deaths, including the widely publicized death of Verity Linn, who starved to death alone in Scotland.
Despite the dangers, Breatharianism has managed to attract celebrities, primarily due to the allure of extreme diets and cleansing rituals in Hollywood. Michelle Pfeiffer fell in with the cult in her 20s, influenced by her personal trainers. She left after her first husband made a movie about cults, realizing she had been tricked.
5. Orgonite Society
The Orgonite Society is unique because it was created and is run by celebrities. Founded by Will Smith’s son, Jaden, along with his then-girlfriend Kylie Jenner and sister Willow, the cult focuses on using pyramids made of ‘orgonite’ – a man-made crystal – to ‘re-align and heal the energies of Gaia.’
Gaia refers to the so-called soul of the Earth. Members believe that Mother Nature’s chakras are out of balance and can be realigned by placing these small stone, glitter, and resin pyramids in specific locations worldwide.
4. International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishnas)
Hare Krishna is relatively mild compared to other cults. The worst accusation against them seems to be giving their members acid, but many spiritual movements from Hinduism in the 1960s and 70s frequently offered drugs to their members.
The cult is based on Hindu principles but uniquely believes that the Christian God, Yahweh, and Allah are the same as their god, Krishna. They also have a peculiar relationship with food, believing that any emotions felt during cooking are transferred into the food and then to the eater. As a result, monks in the cult don’t eat at restaurants. They are also vegan, as they consider eating animal flesh an affront to God that fills you with violent thoughts and actions.
The cult’s most famous celebrity member is George Harrison of the Beatles, which isn’t surprising given the era.
3. Christian Science
This cult operates on the principle that all physical illnesses are actually spiritual ailments that can be prayed away.
This belief applies to all conditions, from the common cold to stage 4 cancer. Followers refuse medical treatment for themselves and their children, instead spending hours in prayer. Chronic conditions like epilepsy or mental illness are viewed as spiritual weaknesses and are met with even more intense prayer. The founder, Mary Baker Eddy, died of pneumonia after refusing medical treatment.
Val Kilmer, the cult’s celebrity member, almost died from a tumor in 2015 before his family convinced him to seek medical attention. He survived but reportedly remains a Christian Scientist.
2. The Source Family
Imagine chilling at a vegan restaurant, listening to the owner talk about good vibes and brag about technically killing someone. That was Father Yod, a hippie vegan who ran one of the world’s first health food restaurants in Los Angeles in the 1960s.
The Source Family, his followers, numbered around 150 and lived in a three-bedroom house in the Hollywood Hills. Each member took the surname ‘Aquarian’ to emphasize their unity. They made and sold music from the restaurant and saw Father Yod as a literal God, willing to do anything for him.
The cult dissolved in 1977 after Father Yod died in a hang gliding accident in Hawaii.
John Lennon, the most hippie Beatle, and his wife Yoko Ono were members.
1. NXIVM
NXIVM made headlines for its sheer insanity. This Hollywood-only cult comprised mostly minor celebrities and aspiring actresses in a cascading pyramid scheme. Led by Keith Raniere and Allison Mack of ‘Smallville,’ NXIVM was a multi-level-marketing company turned sex cult.
Women in the cult were branded with Raniere’s initials and served under a ‘master,’ encouraged to recruit their own ‘slaves’ who would become ‘masters’ to more ‘slaves’ in a classic MLM format.
One woman was confined to her bedroom for two years for falling in love with someone other than Raniere, while another was forced to sleep with Raniere and let him take nude photos of her.
The cult operated in secrecy for years before being fully exposed in 2018, leading to the outing of members like Allison Mack, Nicki Clyne, and India Oxenberg.
Yikes!
