Kinky Cult Preying On Hollywood

A perverted cult is sweeping through Hollywood as it recruits new members — and The National ENQUIRER's investigation has exposed the evil brainwashing America’s A-list stars!

The twisted sect, widely known as the “Family of Love,” was founded by an accused pedophile who ordered female followers to lure new recruits by working as hookers! Sources told The ENQUIRER late cult leader David Brandt Berg started the group during the 1960s counterculture movement, and convinced lost youth who’d trekked to California in search of nirvana to follow him.

Officially recognized as The Family International, the cult has also been known as “The Children of God,” “Family of Love” and, simply, “The Family.” Celebrities raised under its thumb include outspoken “Charmed” star Rose McGowan, and the Phoenix siblings — Joaquin, Rain, Summer and River.

Before his tragic death in 1993, River blasted the cult, declaring it “is ruining people’s lives!” Today, the cult is “newly reborn,” according to a top law enforcement source. “It’s recruiting members, and trying to copy another well-known group’s model of using celebrities to spread its message,” the source told The ENQUIRER.

“We have our eye on a few stars who have a relationship with the group,” added the source, who declined to identify those celebrities. The Family’s highly polished website featured photos of all-American guys and gals dressed as clowns and cheering up sick children. Other photos depicted members performing humanitarian work around the globe.

But cult watchers claimed the photos are nothing but a glossy veneer to cover up The Family’s dark secrets and sordid past, including prostitution and child abductions. “Father David,” as founder Berg was known, brainwashed followers into believing it was the “Last Days” — a time just before the climactic showdown between a resurrected Jesus Christ and his nemesis, the Antichrist.

The accused pedophile cloaked himself in mystery and lived in near-total seclusion — even from his followers. Cultists obscured photos of Berg’s face with a lion’s head, and full images of him did not publicly surface until after his death in Portugal in 1994. But Berg communicated with his devotees through 3,000-plus letters known as “Mo Letters,” in which he spouted Family doctrine.

Eventually, the cult ran afoul of cops through “flirty fishing,” a depraved twist on the Gospel passage in which Jesus recruited disciples by telling them: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” In The Family’s case, Berg instructed female members to “fish” for disciples by working in escort agencies. While the cult has insisted it’s abolished flirty fishing, the practice reportedly resulted in the birth of 300 so-called “Jesus babies!”

The Family builds its bank accounts through a system of rigid monthly tithing that requires members to cough up at least 10 percent of their income — although giving more is encouraged. The cult does not divulge the size of its following, but its website boasted 35,000 people have claimed membership at some point.

One celebrity who was trapped in a similarly deviant cult is “Scarface” beauty Michelle Pfeiffer. She’s claimed she was psychologically and financially drained by a couple who forced her into “Breatharianism,” a sect that claims humans should live solely on air to gain enlightenment.

“Michelle still thinks about how she was duped by these cult members,” a producer friend told The ENQUIRER. “This couple took her in when she was a young actress, and while they seemed to have the best intentions, they were actually members of a cult. Michelle tells young people who she works with through charitable groups that they need to be very careful in Hollywood.”