What comes to mind when you first think of a cult? For many, the phrase conjures images of shadowy rituals, but the reality can be far more ordinary – and sometimes, wildly famous. In this roundup of 10 celebrities members who found themselves tangled in cults of all sorts, we’ll peel back the curtain on everything from Hollywood charm schools to fringe spiritual movements. Buckle up, because the truth is stranger – and more entertaining – than any screenplay.
10 Celebrities Members: Hidden Cult Connections
10 Val Kilmer
From soaring as Maverick in Top Gun to lending his voice to the heroic Moses in The Prince of Egypt, Val Kilmer’s cinematic résumé reads like a Hollywood greatest‑hits reel. Yet behind the fame, Kilmer has been a steadfast follower of Christian Science, a religious tradition that emphasizes spiritual healing and the power of the Divine Mind to overcome physical ailments.
In January 2015, Kilmer was rushed to the hospital after a mysterious tumor was discovered, though he initially denied any cancer diagnosis. After two grueling years of conventional treatment, he publicly claimed in April 2017 that his recovery was a direct result of his Christian Science beliefs, insisting that the medical interventions had worsened his condition while his faith ultimately cured the disease.
9 Allison Mack
If the name Allison Mack doesn’t immediately ring a bell, think back to the teen drama 7th Heaven, the sci‑fi series Smallville, or the quirky comedy Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. Before she was best known for playing a superhero’s love interest, Mack became a high‑ranking member of NXIVM, a group that masqueraded as a self‑improvement company while secretly operating as a sex‑trafficking cult.
Within NXIVM, Mack recruited vulnerable women, employed blackmail tactics, and even performed initiation ceremonies that involved branding victims with a combination of her initials and those of the cult’s founder. Her involvement led to an arrest in 2018, and in 2021 she was sentenced to three years in prison for her role in the organization’s criminal activities.
8 Jaden Smith
Son of Hollywood legend Will Smith, Jaden Smith has carved out his own reputation as a free‑thinking provocateur and vocal supporter of Orgone theory. The concept, originally introduced in the 1930s by Austrian doctor Wilhelm Reich, proposes an invisible, universal life force that permeates all matter, from subatomic particles to sprawling galaxies.
Orgone, sometimes referred to as the “Orgonite Society,” claims that this massless energy is the building block of existence, influencing everything from human health to cosmic structures. Jaden’s outspoken advocacy for this controversial idea has kept the conversation alive in both scientific circles and pop‑culture forums.
7 Patricia Arquette
Most viewers recognize Patricia Arquette from iconic roles in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, the family adventure Holes, and the animated hit Toy Story 4. Yet before she became a household name, Arquette’s upbringing was far from conventional. Her family lived in a rural Virginian commune called Skymont Subud, a community that operated without modern utilities such as electricity or indoor plumbing, encouraging members to seek inner guidance.
Founded in the 1920s in Indonesia by the self‑styled prophet Muhamad Subud Sumohadiwidjojo, Subud describes itself as a spiritual movement aimed at helping individuals realize their true potential. Arquette eventually grew disillusioned, citing her parents as the biggest hypocrites, and left the commune to join her sister before eventually moving to sunny California.
6 R. Kelly
The unforgettable 1996 anthem “I Believe I Can Fly,” featured in Space Jam, cemented R. Kelly’s status as a music powerhouse. However, behind the chart‑topping hits lay a litany of accusations involving sexual exploitation of underage girls, leading to a cascade of criminal charges.
A 1996 civil lawsuit revealed allegations that a teenage high‑school singer was coerced into recruiting friends and pressuring them into group sexual encounters. Fast‑forward to 2019, federal authorities arrested Kelly on charges ranging from child sexual exploitation and human trafficking to racketeering and obstruction of justice.
During the ensuing hearings, multiple witnesses described a secretive “sex cult” environment where Kelly dictated everything from the victims’ meals to their clothing. By January 2021, he faced 22 criminal counts, and a September 2021 New York jury convicted him on nine counts, with additional trials slated for the following year.
5 Michelle Pfeiffer
Growing up in the sun‑drenched suburbs of Southern California, future Oscar‑nominee Michelle Pfeiffer seemed destined for stardom. Yet before her breakthrough roles, she fell under the influence of a new‑age group known as Breatharianism, sometimes called Inedia.
Breatharianism posits that humans can survive without food or water, claiming that pure “life force” sustains the body. While the movement has been linked to fatal outcomes for several adherents, Pfeiffer admits that the group siphoned a significant amount of money from her. Nonetheless, she also credits fellow members with helping her overcome personal addictions, ultimately paving the way for her acclaimed acting career.
4 Winona Ryder
Renowned for her quirky performances in Tim Burton classics like Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder has long been associated with avant‑garde circles. One such community is the Rainbow Family, a loosely organized commune that brings together people from all walks of life to share music, food, love, and a vision of a better world.
Inspired by the 1969 Woodstock Festival, the Rainbow Family began gathering in Oregon in 1970 before spreading nationwide. Their assemblies emphasize meditation, silence, and a collective focus on world peace.
Ryder entered the commune at the tender age of seven, joining a 300‑acre California plot that lacked basic utilities and was shared among numerous families. Isolated from mainstream society, she spent her childhood immersed in books and imagination, experiences that would later shape her distinctive acting style.
3 Joaquin Phoenix
Born in Puerto Rico and raised across the United States, Joaquin Phoenix has earned critical acclaim for roles in films such as Gladiator, Signs, Walk the Line, and the iconic villainy of Joker. Yet his early life was anything but ordinary.
The Phoenix family joined the Children of God, later renamed The Family International, a religious movement that preached salvation, spiritual reformation, and an apocalyptic vision of an anti‑Christ. For over a decade, Joaquin and his siblings—River, Rain, Liberty, and Summer—traveled throughout South America as missionaries for the group.
By the mid‑1970s, the organization had introduced a controversial evangelistic tactic known as “flirty fishing,” wherein female members—dubbed “fisherwomen”—seduced men, called “fish,” to extract donations through sexual intimacy. This practice generated substantial revenue and led to a surge in births within the community. Disillusioned by these tactics, the Phoenix family returned to the United States in 1978, eventually settling in Florida.
2 Rose McGowan
Although Rose McGowan’s name evokes the iconic scream queen role she played in 1996’s Scream, her personal history is steeped in darker experiences. Born in Florence, Italy, to American artist parents, she spent her early years within the Children of God, the same “flirty fishing” cult that Joaquin Phoenix later escaped.
McGowan’s childhood involved constant travel across Europe as her parents managed an Italian chapter of the group. She witnessed a litany of abuses—including sexual assault, molestation, and other forms of exploitation—perpetrated within the commune.
The family finally returned to the United States in 1978, but at age fifteen Rose emancipated herself, fleeing to Los Angeles. There, she discovered that Hollywood could be just as treacherous as the cult she had fled, yet she persisted, forging a successful acting career.
1 Glenn Close
Rounding out our list is three‑time Emmy, Golden Globe, and Tony winner Glenn Close. Born in Connecticut in 1947, Close spent her formative years under the influence of the Moral Re‑Armament (MRA), an international organization founded in 1938 that encourages active participation in political and social issues.
The MRA promotes four core absolutes—honesty, purity, selflessness, and love—asserting that global change begins with personal transformation. However, Close recalls the movement’s commune‑like atmosphere, noting a pervasive sense of superiority that masked an overbearing surveillance of members’ lives.
She has said that observing the MRA’s behavior profoundly shaped her understanding of human dynamics, a perspective she channels into her celebrated acting career.