Many academics and writers have sought to understand why America has become a “nation of cults” over the years.
“Some pundits are quick to blame the 1960s counterculture for spawning interest in outlandish religious doctrines”, Princeton historian Sean Wilentz wrote in the Los Angeles Times in 1997. “Others blame television and the internet.”
The 1960s saw a proliferation of cults in the US. Photo: @archivero/X
Whatever the reason, it seems no one is immune – not even celebrities. Thanks to their fame, however, we get to hear the stories of how they escaped. Read on to find out which celebrities have been involved in cults at some point in their lives …
1 and 2. Joaquin and River Phoenix
Summer Phoenix, Arlyn Phoenix, Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, John Lee Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix and River Phoenix at home in Los Angeles, in 1983. Photo: Getty ImagesThe Joker: Folie À Deux actor has talked openly about the fact that up until the age of four, his parents were part of the Children of God cult. Its founder, David Berg, wanted to “combine Christianity with the free love movement of the late 60s”, according to Fox News, but as reports of child abuse and child marriage within the cult proliferated, Phoenix’s parents left.
Joaquin Phoenix in Joker, a film he says is about “childhood trauma, gun violence, isolation and mental health”. Photo: Warner Bros
Disturbingly, Joaquin’s older brother River, who died of an overdose aged 23, told Details magazine in 1991 that he was raped at the age of four while in the cult.
3. Glenn Close
Actress Glenn Close has overcome her difficult adolescence spent in a cult to become an Oscar-nominated actress. Photo: Reuters