The Cult News Network

The Hidden Control Behind Love Bombing

Published June 30, 2026 By admin

Categorized as Uncategorized Tagged abusive controlling realationships, coercive control, love bombing

Key points What feels like profound connection may actually be the start of hidden, destabilizing control. 12-step communities can unintentionally enable narcissistic abuse by misapplying recovery language. High-empathy individuals are especially vulnerable to their attunement being exploited. “The problem is,…[Continue Reading...]

People Magazine Investigates Explores the Soulaire Allerai Cult

Published June 30, 2026 By admin

Categorized as Uncategorized Tagged Allerai, cults, Minnesota

People continues its dive into cults with People Magazine Investigates: The Cult of the Soulful Journey. The special presentation focuses on self-help guru Soulaire Allerai, who set up a commune in Minnetonka, Minnesota, promising her followers spiritual growth. Investigation Discovery…[Continue Reading...]

Best of Asking Eric: I’m caught in a cult and don’t know how to get out

Published June 28, 2026 By admin

Categorized as Uncategorized Tagged advice, cults, leaving cults

Dear Eric: Twenty years ago, I found myself a part of a group that initially started as a gym buddy group. I was brought inside the circle by the “leader”, aka the one who initiates and makes plans. Since the…[Continue Reading...]

Gaslighting Doesn’t Always Look Like What You Think It Does

Published June 27, 2026 By admin

Categorized as Uncategorized Tagged abusive controlling friendships, coercive control, gaslighting, mystical manipulation

I recently met up with one of my friends for coffee and a good chat session. When I sat down at the table, she pointed at her cup and exclaimed, “The barista totally gaslit me. Do you see how they…[Continue Reading...]

South Korean ex-first lady sentenced to 7 years for bribery scandal

Published June 27, 2026 By admin

Categorized as Uncategorized Tagged criminal conviction, cults, Kim Keon Hee, prison sentence, South Korea, Unification Church

SEOUL, South Korea — The wife of ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday after a court convicted her of accepting luxury gifts from businesspeople and others seeking political and business favors.…[Continue Reading...]

Polygamous sect leader convicted of abuse charges after girls found in trailer

Published June 27, 2026 By admin

Categorized as Cult Crimes Tagged Arizona, criminal conviction, cult leader, Polygamist cult, Samuel Bateman

PHOENIX -- A polygamous sect leader already serving a 50-year federal prison sentence for orchestrating sex involving children was convicted Friday on state child abuse charges after girls were found in an unventilated trailer he was hauling through Arizona. Someone…[Continue Reading...]

Inside the Wild Branch Ministries: How a Hollywood Star Lost KES 260 Million to an Alleged Cult

Published June 26, 2026 By admin

Categorized as Uncategorized Tagged Bethany Joy Lenz, cult leader, cults, Michael Galeotti Sr., survivor story, Wild Branch Ministtries

Michael Galeotti Sr., a former United States Marine turned religious leader, finds himself at the centre of an explosive cultural reckoning following the publication of a bombshell memoir by Hollywood actress Bethany Joy Lenz. The founder of Wild Branch Christian…[Continue Reading...]

Witness Details Horrific Starvation of Six Children in Shakahola Cult Trial

Published June 26, 2026 By admin

Categorized as Cult Crimes Tagged criminal trial, cults, Good News International Church, Kenya, starvation deaths, testimony

A star witness in the crimes against humanity trial facing controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie has delivered chilling testimony in court, recounting the systematic starvation and subsequent deaths of his six children. The harrowing account detailed how the minors were subjected…[Continue Reading...]

A Japanese doomsday cult bought a million-acre Australian sheep ranch to test sarin gas

Published June 26, 2026 By admin

Categorized as Cult Crimes Tagged Aum Shinrikyo, Australia, cults, Sarin gas attack

In April 1993, Aum Shinrikyo — the cult that would gas the Tokyo subway two years later — purchased Banjawarn Station, a remote sheep ranch covering 404,680 hectares (about a million acres) in Western Australia, 500 miles northeast of Perth.…[Continue Reading...]

Clearwater City Council candidate loses endorsement over Garden Avenue fallout — A recent City Council vote on a request from the Church of Scientology has stirred up campaign drama.

Published June 26, 2026 By admin

Categorized as Uncategorized Tagged Clearwater, controversy, Florida, real estate, Scientologists, Scientology

A Clearwater City Council member rescinded his endorsement of a candidate after a tense back-and-forth with her husband, a Pinellas County commissioner, about the council’s vote last week to give a stretch of public roadway to the Church of Scientology.…[Continue Reading...]