New Docuseries
Variety: ‘Bring Me the Beauties’: Inside the Doomsday Alien Sex Cult That Ensnared the First Male Supermodel
The Variety article provides an overview of "Bring Me the Beauties," a three-part HBO docuseries directed by veteran filmmaker Chris Smith (Fyre, Bad Vegan). The series exposes Eternal Values, a bizarre doomsday "alien sex cult" that operated during the pre-Internet era of the late 1970s and 1980s.
At the center of the story is Hoyt Richards, who was a Princeton football recruit before becoming the world's first male supermodel, working for top fashion houses like Versace and Ralph Lauren. While Richards was raking in millions, almost all of his earnings were secretly funding the cult.
Here are the key takeaways from the article:
The Leader and the Hook
The "Talented Mr. Ripley" Figure: The cult was led by a charismatic New York socialite named Frederick Von Mierers. In reality, he was Freddy Miers—a working-class kid from Brooklyn who fabricated a high-society backstory to climb the social ladder.
The Cosmic Backstory: Von Mierers claimed that an alien from the star Arcturus had entered his body. He told his followers he had ten years to train other "Arcturians" to survive an apocalyptic "pole shift" predicted for 1999. They believed they would be rescued by UFOs and placed in rejuvenation chambers.
Targeting "Beauties": In 1978, Von Mierers approached a 16-year-old Richards on a beach. He used his access to exclusive high-society spaces like Studio 54 to lure young, attractive people into his orbit, moving them into his East 54th Street apartment under the guise of helping them become more "evolved."
Cult Life and Financial Exploitation
Control Tactics: Followers were subjected to intense psychological "life readings" based on astrology charts that preyed on their insecurities. They were forced to buy expensive "healing" gemstones, follow strict fruit-and-vegetable diets, endure mandatory tanning sessions, and completely disown their families.
The UFO Business Empire: Von Mierers turned the cult into a highly lucrative corporate entity called Ultimate Fitness Opportunities (UFO), selling supplements, exercise gear, and costly astrology readings.
Funding the Compound: Hoyt Richards estimated that he poured millions of his modeling earnings into the cult. Much of this money was used to purchase a lake compound in Lake Lure, North Carolina, which was designated as the ideal UFO landing spot.
The Dark Turn and Downfall
Violence and Abuse: Over time, the environment became increasingly abusive. Members were forced to "watchdog" one another. Rules were enforced through "slamming sessions" (vicious verbal berating), physical violence, and food/water deprivation.
The Sex Rings: Despite teaching his followers that romantic love and sex were "the downfall of mankind," Von Mierers forced members to take ecstasy and engage in incestuous sex with each other or strangers. Furthermore, his assistant revealed that followers were forced to hire male gigolos from places like Times Square to pleasure Von Mierers multiple times a week.
The Collapse: Following an embarrassing appearance on The Richard Bey Show and a damning 1990 Vanity Fair exposé titled "The Ford Models and the Alien from Arcturus," the cult began to unravel. Von Mierers died of AIDS just five days before the article hit newsstands.
The Armed Aftermath: Following his death, a power struggle ensued. The remaining members retreated to the North Carolina compound, hoarding gold, silver, and massive stockpiles of weapons in anticipation of the 1999 cataclysm.
Richards' Escape
Richards eventually broke free after falling in love with a woman named Donna. When the cult tried to punish him for entering a romantic relationship by shaving his head, forcing him to do menial labor, and making him quit modeling, he escaped. He returned to his biological family and spent his mother's final years serving as her primary caregiver while she battled cancer, using the time to reconnect and prove he was finally back.
New Video
Yes Theory: 100 Hours in America's Strange "Cult City"
This video follows Yes Theory hosts Thomas Brag and Staffan Taylor as they spend 100 hours in Fairfield, Iowa, a city known for its large community of Transcendental Meditation (TM) practitioners. Arriving without a plan, the hosts aim to objectively explore whether the community functions as a supportive, peaceful "paradise" or an insular "cult."
Throughout their four-day immersion, they:
Participate in a formal TM course: They are initiated into the practice, learn a personal mantra, and experience group meditation techniques.
Engage with the community: They meet long-time practitioners, including their teacher, Wall-E, and the president of the Maharishi University, to understand the movement's philosophy of stress reduction and consciousness.
Explore local culture: They experience the town's unique, creative side, including an immersive "art house" installation and local sound-healing events.
Ultimately, the hosts reflect on their experience, noting that while they encountered no evidence of a cult-like environment during their visit, they remain aware of the critical external perspectives surrounding the organization. They conclude that the meditation technique itself has become a positive, lasting tool in their daily lives.
New Podcasts
Vox: Unexplainable: Lost on the Road to Enlightenment
"So many of us have been told that meditation can make us less stressed, more productive, and happier. But for a small group of people, it has a dark side. What's going on?"
Check out this podcast from Vox with Willoughby Britton from Cheetah House and Richie Davidson.
AI Research Disclosure: To bring you the most relevant stories, parts of this newsletter utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools to search the web, source articles, and assist with content curation. This content is for informational purposes only; we recommend verifying critical facts independently.
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