HBO Debuts 3-Part Eternal Values Docuseries, Exposing Leader Who Took $90,000 a Month
Updated
Updated · Rolling Stone · Jun 1
HBO Debuts 3-Part Eternal Values Docuseries, Exposing Leader Who Took $90,000 a Month
4 articles · Updated · Rolling Stone · Jun 1
June 1 brought HBO’s three-part “Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult,” which traces how Frederick von Mierers built the 1980s Eternal Values group around models and promises of enlightenment.
Hoyt Richards says the leader drew followers in with diet, celibacy and spiritual discipline, then claimed he was an alien “walk-in” from Arcturus who alone could save them from catastrophe.
Richards, one of the first male supermodels, says he was earning nearly $90,000 a month and handed almost all of it to the group, while members also bought overpriced crystals and surrendered possessions.
Archival footage and former members’ interviews depict a coercive system of public “slammings,” surveillance and sexual hypocrisy; supermodel Jacki Adams’ break with the group helped trigger its collapse before von Mierers died in 1990.
Now 64, Richards says he joined the series to show how charismatic control can trap people for years and leave lasting trauma long after they escape.
How did a 1980s cult convince a top male model to surrender his entire fortune?
Are today's wellness influencers using the same manipulation tactics as this forgotten model cult?
What secrets allowed a New York cult to outlive its charismatic leader for nearly a decade?