6 celebrities who have spoken about being in cults: from Glenn Close to Michelle Pfeiffer

Allison, best known for playing Chloe Sullivan on the superhero series Smallville, was a member of NXIVM, a sex-trafficking cult and multi-level marketing company. In 2018, she was arrested by federal authorities on charges of sex trafficking, sex-trafficking conspiracy, and forced labor conspiracy, and subsequently pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy, admitting to manipulating women into becoming "slaves" for NXIVM leader Keith Raniere, who had sex with them. She served 21 months in federal prison, and was released in 2023.

She addressed her NXIVM past for the first time in November 2025, as part of a seven-episode podcast from CBC's "Uncover," titled "Allison after NXIVM," in which she said: "I definitely recognize and admit that I was abusing my power and that I was mean and I was forceful," adding: "But I also can't negate the fact that there was a part of me that was altruistic and was desperate to help people, and I wanted to be better — and I was willing to do anything to be better in myself and to help other people be better."

The One Tree Hill actress revealed she had been in an ultra-Christian cult while starring in the hit show in her 2024 book Dinner for Vampires Life on a Cult TV Show (While also in an Actual Cult!). The cult, which she identified in her memoir as the Big House Family, was based in Idaho, and led by a pastor there. 

She was in the group, an at-home Bible study that "went sideways," per her memoir, from around 2000 to 2012, during which he married the group leader's son, Michael Galeotti, welcomed a daughter, Maria, in 2011, and had more than $2 million "siphoned" from her bank accounts.

The Fatal Attraction actress was also part of a conservative religious group, Moral Re-Armament, which her father Dr. William Taliaferro Close joined when she was seven years old, moving their family to the group's headquarters in Switzerland, where they lived for 15 years.

Speaking about it in an episode of the Apple TV+ series The Me You Can't See in 2021, she said she was left "psychologically traumatized" over what was "basically a cult," noting: "Everybody spouted the same things and there was a lot of rules, a lot of control. It was really awful."

"Because of the devastation, emotional and psychological of the cult, I have not been successful in my relationships and finding a permanent partner and I am sorry about that," she said. "I think it is our natural state to be connected like that. I don't think you ever change your trigger points, but at least you can be aware of them and maybe avoid situations that might make you vulnerable, especially in relationships."

The Napoleon actor, who is one of five siblings, including the late River Phoenix, was born in Puerto Rico, while his parents, Arlyn Phoenix an​​​​d John Lee Bottom, were missionaries and already part of the religious cult Children of God, which his parents ultimately left when he was three years old. Speaking with Playboy about it in 2014, he noted: "When people bring up Children of God, there's always something vaguely accusatory about it … It's guilt by association. I think it was really innocent on my parents' part. They really believed, but I don't think most people see it that way. I've always thought that was strange and unfair."

"I think my parents thought they'd found a community that shared their ideals," he argued, noting they left after they found out about the cult's sex recruitment tactics. "I think they were idealists, and believed that they were with a group who shared their beliefs, and their values. I think they probably were looking for safety, and family."

The Scarface actress revealed in 2013 she was once part of a cult when she first moved to Los Angeles when she was around 20 years old, telling The Sunday Telegraph's Stella magazine that she became involved with a "very controlling" couple who were "kind of personal trainers" and believers of breatharianism, who practice living without food or water. "They were very controlling. I wasn't living with them but I was there a lot and they were always telling me I needed to come more. I had to pay for all the time I was there, so it was financially very draining."

She ultimately cut ties with them while her first husband Peter Horton was filming a movie about the Moonies, followers of Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, during which, researching the cult and speaking with a former member, she realized she was in one.

Though not a cult outright, the Severance actress and her siblings, Rosanna and David Arquette, have opened up about growing up in a chaotic commune, a Subud community in Winchester, Virginia. During an appearance on Oprah in 2011, they recalled their parents themselves starting the community with "a bunch of their friends" in the hopes of creating a "utopian society," that instead left them with no electricity, bathrooms, or running water.

Though they eventually moved into more conventional homes, their parents were both drug addicts, and Patricia recalled "a lot of drama in the house," and "a lot of chairs flying around."

"A lot of hole punching walls," her sister Rosanna added, revealing her mom "stabbed me in the arm with a knife. Concussions. Just terrible physical abuse."