Cults rarely introduce themselves as cults, and several famous people have learned that firsthand. Some were born into isolated religious communities, while others encountered organizations promising spirituality, wellness, self-improvement, or a supportive new family. In several cases, they did not recognize how controlling the environment had become until years later. These 25 actors, musicians, filmmakers, and public figures eventually left groups they have described as cults or cult-like organizations and spoke about what happened afterward.
Bethany Joy Lenz
While starring on One Tree Hill, Bethany Joy Lenz spent roughly a decade in an ultra-Christian group that she says eventually controlled her career, finances, and much of her personal life. She married another member and had a daughter before leaving both the marriage and the group in 2012, later documenting the experience in Dinner for Vampires.
Jason Lee
My Name Is Earl star Jason Lee practiced Scientology for years before publicly confirming in 2016 that he and his wife no longer belonged to the church. He later described the experience more simply, saying that Scientology was ultimately “just not for me.”
Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Phoenix was born while his parents belonged to Children of God, meaning the future Oscar winner spent roughly the first three years of his life inside the group. He has said his parents originally believed they had found an idealistic religious community but removed their children once they realized there was a darker side to its teachings.
India Oxenberg
India Oxenberg spent seven years inside NXIVM before eventually leaving with help from her mother, actress Catherine Oxenberg. She has since described coercion, severe food restriction, and being branded after becoming involved in NXIVM’s secret subgroup DOS.
Glenn Close
Glenn Close was seven when her father joined Moral Re-Armament and moved the family to the group’s headquarters in Switzerland. Close, who has described the organization as a cult marked by strict rules and control, eventually left at 22 and has said the experience affected her relationships long into adulthood.
Leah Remini
Leah Remini joined Scientology as a child in 1979 and remained a member for more than three decades before leaving in 2013. The King of Queens star subsequently became one of the organization’s most prominent critics, producing documentaries and publicly detailing allegations of mistreatment and intimidation associated with the church, which Scientology disputes.
Rose McGowan
Rose McGowan spent the first nine years of her life in Children of God, where her father reportedly held a leadership position in an Italian branch. She has recalled fleeing with members of her family in the middle of the night after her father became alarmed by the group’s increasingly disturbing teachings surrounding children and adult relations.
Kristin Kreuk
Smallville actress Kristin Kreuk participated in NXIVM for several years while understanding it primarily as a self-help organization. She left in 2013 and later said she was deeply disturbed and embarrassed by what emerged about Keith Raniere and the organization after her departure.
Michelle Pfeiffer
Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles at 20, Michelle Pfeiffer became involved with a highly controlling couple who followed breatharianism, the belief that people can survive without conventional food or water. She realized how closely her experience resembled cult manipulation while helping then-husband Peter Horton research the Unification Church for a movie.
Paul Haggis
Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis spent nearly 35 years in Scientology before publicly resigning in 2009. Haggis later described himself as having spent decades in a cult and said reports about the organization, along with its response to California’s Proposition 8, forced him to reconsider what he had supported for so long.
Hannah Murray
Game of Thrones actress Hannah Murray says she was drawn into a wellness organization after beginning sessions with an energy healer while struggling emotionally during the making of Detroit. Her involvement eventually culminated in a breakdown and hospitalization, an experience she later explored in her memoir The Make-Believe.
River Phoenix
River Phoenix was another of the Phoenix children raised inside Children of God while their parents traveled through Latin America as missionaries for the organization. The entire family eventually left after their parents became increasingly disturbed by the direction the group was taking.
Laura Prepon
Laura Prepon joined Scientology in the late 1990s and was publicly associated with the organization throughout much of her That ’70s Show and Orange Is the New Black fame. In 2021, she revealed that she had quietly stopped practicing about five years earlier and said it was no longer part of her life.
Maisie Williams
Maisie Williams has said her father indoctrinated her into what she describes as a “child cult,” although she has deliberately kept many details private to protect other relatives. She has explained that being removed from her father initially turned everything she believed upside down, even as part of her felt relieved to be away from him.
Sarah Edmondson
Actress Sarah Edmondson spent more than a decade in NXIVM, even establishing the organization’s Vancouver center before being recruited into the secret women-only group DOS. After enduring its branding ritual, she became one of the most important whistleblowers exposing NXIVM and helped other members recognize what they had become involved with.
Lisa Marie Presley
Lisa Marie Presley entered Scientology with her mother, Priscilla Presley, when she was around 10 and remained associated with it for much of her life. According to her posthumous memoir and daughter Riley Keough, Presley eventually left the organization around 2013 as she withdrew from much of her previous life.
Christopher Owens
Former Girls frontman Christopher Owens grew up inside Children of God and has described being heavily indoctrinated into its beliefs from childhood. After being separated from family members who had already left, Owens eventually escaped with help from his sister.
Christa B. Allen
13 Going on 30 and Revenge actress Christa B. Allen has described rebuilding her life after becoming romantically involved with a man she called a charismatic and wealthy cult leader. Allen said she moved in with him only three days after they met and later came to recognize patterns of deception and manipulation in the relationship.
Nazanin Boniadi
Homeland and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power actress Nazanin Boniadi was once a Scientologist and was reportedly drawn into an intensely controlled relationship with Tom Cruise through the organization, allegations the church has denied. She subsequently left Scientology and was confirmed as no longer involved with it by 2012.
Rain Phoenix
Musician and actress Rain Phoenix spent part of her early childhood in Children of God alongside siblings River, Joaquin, Liberty, and Summer. Their parents eventually abandoned the organization and brought the family back to the United States, where several of the children later entered entertainment.
Bonnie Piesse
Star Wars actress and musician Bonnie Piesse belonged to NXIVM alongside her husband, filmmaker Mark Vicente, but became one of the first people in their immediate circle to recognize the organization for what it was. Her decision to leave helped push Vicente toward his own departure, and both later participated in HBO’s The Vow about NXIVM.
Jason Beghe
Before becoming widely known as Hank Voight on Chicago P.D., Jason Beghe spent roughly 12 years in Scientology and reportedly donated enormous sums to the organization. He left around 2007 and soon became one of Hollywood’s earliest high-profile Scientology defectors, publicly denouncing the organization and later appearing in the documentary Going Clear.
Summer Phoenix
Summer Phoenix was the youngest member of the famous acting family to spend her earliest years connected to Children of God. Like Joaquin, River, and Rain, she left only because her parents recognized the problems within the organization and removed the family while the children were still young.
Mark Vicente
Filmmaker Mark Vicente spent more than a decade inside NXIVM, rising high enough to sit on its executive board and produce material promoting Keith Raniere. After learning about the secret DOS group in 2017, Vicente and his wife Bonnie Piesse defected and became central figures in the effort to expose the organization.
Carmen Llywelyn
Actress and photographer Carmen Llywelyn spent eight years in Scientology after being introduced to it during her relationship with Jason Lee. Years after leaving, she publicly described the indoctrination and manipulation she experienced and said she had spent more than a decade trying to keep Scientology out of her life.
