Andrew Keegan Addresses Speculation He Was a ‘Cult Leader’

Whereas showing on the Pod Meets World podcast, co-hosts Danielle Fishel, Rider Sturdy and Will Friedle gave Keegan the chance to debunk or clarify the rumor.

“You imply after I awoke sooner or later and I used to be anointed a cult chief?” he requested with amusing throughout the iHeart podcast. Keegan — who reached “heartthrob” standing after roles in initiatives together with 10 Issues I Hate About You, seventh Heaven, Get together of 5 and extra — made headlines in 2014 after beginning his personal religious motion.

On the time he was dwelling in Venice Seashore in California and located himself “immersed within the tradition and the group.”

“There was this attention-grabbing group of hippie sorts, if you’ll, in Venice. I am positive in case you went on the west facet, there’s undoubtedly numerous spirituality,” he defined on the podcast. “I used to be linked with some people and we had this chance. This previous Hare Krishna Temple, it was sitting there empty and we have been like, ‘Why do not we get some folks collectively and let’s open this place up?'”

Nevertheless, wanting again on the expertise, he now known as it “insane,” admitting the hit the motion took on his financial institution acocunt.

“Wanting again, it was insane. I used to be placing down 10s of 1000’s of {dollars}, however we opened it up and spent three years and actually did construct a tremendous good friend group,” Keegan mentioned. “We went by way of one thing actually important from 2014 to 2017.”

The cult hypothesis started again in 2014 when Vice wrote a profile on the actor beginning his personal faith.

The publication described his group known as Full Circle as a “temple and religious motion” with its residence base in Venice Seashore, California. The publication wrote that its journalist was greeted by a person named Third Eye who was a part of the “internal circle”. There have been additionally mentions of therapeutic crystals, self-help speeches and “desert-inspired ‘Lord of the Rings’ costumes.”

“I in all probability ought to have had a little bit bit extra media coaching on the time,” Keegan continued on the podcast. “They only actually created a really attention-grabbing, colourful story and put it collectively … we actually simply received collectively and did a Sunday factor. We did virtually 1,000 occasions in three years and it was really actually onerous. It was actually useful to lots of people, I nonetheless hear about it now, the place individuals are like, “That was such a good time.'”

Keegan went on to say Full Circle was the “reverse” of what folks would think about, claiming there was “no doctrine” and it was only a place to convey “folks collectively.”

In 2017, Keegan poked enjoyable at a number of the headlines by taking part in an exaggerated model of himself on the TV collection Hollywood Darlings.

“It was enjoyable to take the chance to play to what some folks suppose I do now, so why not have enjoyable with it,” Keegan advised TooFab on the present’s premiere on the time. “This was the right venue to discover that creatively. It’s an excessive, most excessive model of what we do, however sure, there are issues about it that we drew from to create the present.”