Where Hoyt Richards Is Now After Escaping “Model Cult” Eternal Values

by

Hoyt Richards spent his modeling heyday leading “a double life.”

Even at the peak of my success – traveling across the Atlantic and staying in luxury hotels – I’d return to New York and simply sleep on a yoga mat on the floor, as he shares in the new HBO docuseries Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult.

Oh my gosh, you won’t BELIEVE this about Keith! Apparently, forty years ago, he was involved with this group called Eternal Values, and now he says it was basically a cult! Can you even imagine? It was all mixed up with Eastern philosophies and this leader, Frederick von Mierers, who claimed he was an alien who’d taken over a human body! He said he was sent here to get everyone ready for the apocalypse! It’s just… so wild to think about him being part of something like that!

Keith Richards recently told People magazine that looking back, it was clear the person he’d once been so intimidated by was mostly making things up as they went along. He realized, ‘Wow, that’s not how I remembered it at all.’

As a lifestyle expert, I’ve always been fascinated by stories like von Mierers’. He believed his community wasn’t about superficial appearances, despite what some might think – and the show really highlights that they were strikingly attractive people! He saw them as individuals genuinely searching for deeper meaning in a world obsessed with possessions and status. It was all about spiritual growth, he insisted, right up until the very end.

Shortly before he died in 1990, he emphatically told Vanity Fair, “We are not a cult. Do you understand? We are not a cult.”

You know, when talking about von Mierers, I deliberately call him ‘Freddy.’ And there’s a reason for that! As I share in the series, it’s about taking back control of the narrative. He likely wouldn’t want to be called Freddy, and honestly? That’s exactly why I do it. It helps me process everything on my own terms, instead of letting him dictate how I feel or what I say.

Before the last installment of Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult airs on June 15th at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on HBO and HBO Max, here’s a quick look at Hoyt, von Mierers, and Eternal Values.

John Richards Hoyt, a former college football player, is often credited as being the first male supermodel. He rose to fame in the 1980s with iconic models like Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell.

When Richards was 16, he met Frederick von Mierers, a charismatic self-help personality, on a beach in Nantucket in 1978. Richards describes in the HBO documentary Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult how the 31-year-old von Mierers quickly captivated him with conversations about Eastern religion, ancient civilizations, and astrology.

While at Princeton, Richards contacted von Mierers, hoping to find a party for his group. That night, they wound up at the famous Studio 54 in New York City, and Richards immediately felt like he’d found the perfect scene.

When a shoulder injury ended Richards’ football dreams, von Mierers connected him with Joey Hunter, the president of Ford Models. Hunter then signed Richards, who had attended an Ivy League university.

As Richards explains in his book, Bring Me the Beauties, he gave the majority of his earnings from his successful modeling career to von Mierers and Eternal Values.

I was a regular viewer of Von Mierers’ late-night public access show, and he always claimed he wasn’t just a normal person. He believed he was actually an alien who’d taken over a human body, sent here to fight against evil and warn everyone about a huge disaster he predicted for 1999. He was really passionate about it, and honestly, quite captivating to watch!

He began to believe he was a “walk-in” after reading Ruth Montgomery’s 1967 book, A Search for the Truth. This book sparked his belief.

In a 1990 interview with Vanity Fair, just months before his death at age 43 from AIDS-related complications, he insisted on a peculiar detail for the article. He asked the writer to state that he was from the star Arcturus and believed he was the reincarnation of the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, claiming Jeremiah’s spirit had entered his body.

Von Mierers warned of catastrophic storms that he believed would wipe out the world within a decade, claiming only a select few would survive. He presented himself as a trainer for those destined to lead the survivors.

He stated he kept models around because he believed the future leaders he was preparing would be physically perfect, expressing a belief in a so-called ‘master race’.

The man known as von Mierers was actually Fred Meyers, who grew up in Brooklyn, the son of a dry cleaner. He fabricated a story about his parents dying when he was young and being raised by his grandparents and a wealthy godmother.

Oh my gosh, you won’t believe what I’ve been reading about The Beauties! Apparently, when the original Eternal Values members joined, it felt so liberating at first. But then things got…intense with Von Mierers. He started controlling everything – what they ate, who they talked to, even telling them to distance themselves from their families! And it gets weirder. He first told them to avoid sex, and then, can you believe it, he started pushing them to have casual encounters? It’s just…so messed up, but I can’t stop reading about it!

He made money from his teachings by selling things like tapes, videos, books, health supplements, and psychic readings. He also told his followers to purchase “gem prescriptions” – sapphires and other gemstones – claiming they could heal people.

In 1990, the Manhattan District Attorney began looking into accusations that von Mierers was overvaluing gems to sell them at higher prices.

Model Jacki Adams told prosecutors she paid von Mierers over $100,000. She jokingly remarked in her book, Bring Me the Beauties, that “It was amazing how expensive spirituality could be.”

Before he died, Von Mierers had never faced criminal charges. He dismissed accusations from former followers who claimed he defrauded them, calling them “jealous, sick, twisted people” in an interview with Vanity Fair.

Following von Mierers’ death, several of his followers relocated to North Carolina. He had been constructing a settlement there – largely funded by Richards – believing it would survive the end of the world, with the Blue Ridge Mountains expected to remain intact in the year 2000.

Meanwhile, Richards was still jet-setting as a model and he started dating dancer Donna Flagg.

As 1999 neared, Richards explained to The Hollywood Reporter that he noticed none of the predicted signs were coming true. He said he realized things like storms, earthquakes, and economic collapse weren’t happening as foretold. Gathering his courage, he voiced his concern that the timeline was inaccurate, which led to a strong negative reaction.

He ended his relationship with Flagg to demonstrate his commitment, but afterward, the emotional abuse he experienced when he began to inquire about things became so severe that he contemplated suicide. He knew he had to escape the situation.

On July 3, 1999, Richards contacted Fabio, who then purchased a plane ticket for his friend to travel to Los Angeles.

For a year and a half, Richards lived with Fabio as they sorted through two decades of belongings. Through this process, Richards realized he had previously been involved in a cult and managed to leave.

At 64, Richards helps people leave cults and is on the board of Living Cult Free. This nonprofit organization focuses on supporting those who have left cults by amplifying their experiences, empowering them to regain control of their lives, and teaching others how to resist manipulation and abuse.

He and Flagg are getting married in September. They started dating again after he contacted her with an idea for a project, which eventually became known as Bring Me the Beauties.

Richards explained to Vanity Fair that he began sharing his experiences 25 years ago to understand and take responsibility for what occurred, and to figure out the reasons behind it.

He believes the lessons he took away from working with von Mierers remain relevant today, because our society often behaves like an echo chamber.

I’ve seen this pattern so many times with my clients – and honestly, experienced it myself! It’s that feeling of constantly striving to make someone else happy, only to find you’re somehow losing yourself in the process. What’s really striking is how much more common this dynamic seems to be today than when I first started working with people on these issues. It feels incredibly relevant right now.

Read More

2026-06-16 01:19