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These Stars Were Never The Same After Finding Their Religion
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00:00There are lots of stars who have found religion and developed strong ties to it. Some have
00:05walked away from entertainment altogether afterward, while others incorporate their
00:10new belief system into their work. We've put together a list of celebrities who found religion
00:15and were never the same afterward.
00:18Justin Bieber released his debut album My World 2.0 in 2010. Soon after, he turned into a global
00:26pop star that eventually seemed to resent just how famous he became. Bieber's frustration was seen
00:32when he famously wanted to fight a photographer in 2013 while in London. Then in 2014, he embraced
00:39Christianity and got baptized by former Hillsong NYC pastor Carl Lentz in New York. In 2015, Bieber
00:48said on The Zach Sang Show,
00:50I was looking at myself in the mirror. I was so lost.
00:54I was just in a weird place, dude, and I felt it in my soul."
00:59But eventually, Bieber said that everything turned around for him. He explained,
01:04When I really sit in my room and I'm alone, and I can just, like,
01:08God, are you there? I feel this connection with something that's a higher being. It just puts an
01:14ease to my soul that's like — I can't describe.
01:18During a 2019 interview with SGI USA, actor Orlando Bloom said that he discovered Buddhism
01:25as a young person in school through a friend. Bloom converted to the religion in 2004.
01:31In the interview, Bloom described his relationship with Buddhism, saying,
01:35Throughout these years of really unusual circumstances being a young actor who was really
01:40notable and was really thrust into the public eye without the tools to know how to cope often and
01:46how grateful I was for the practice to have been an anchor for me throughout those years and through
01:51that period. In an October 2020 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Bloom said that his
01:57Buddhism comes in handy as a way to connect with his daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom. When the host asked
02:03if he chants to the baby,
02:04I chant Nam Mioho Renge Kyo, which is this Buddhist mantra I've had since I was 16.
02:11It's about being yourself and the best version, the most authentic version of yourself.
02:18Kirk Cameron was once a teen heartthrob who practically lived on magazine covers,
02:24but everything would change for him after going from being an atheist to a devout Christian.
02:29Cameron told CBN in 2008,
02:32I was about 17 years old, and I followed a girl into church. Not because I wanted to learn about
02:37God, but because I wanted to be with this girl that I heard the gospel for the first time."
02:42After that church visit, the actor said he thought about what would happen to him
02:46if he suddenly passed away. He recalled,
02:49I decided that I needed to be saved. The conversion not only changed Cameron's outlook,
02:54it also changed his reputation in Hollywood and his relationship with his former Growing Pains castmates.
03:01In 2000, Tracy Gold, who played Cameron's sister Carol Seaver on the show, told the Los Angeles Times,
03:08At the end, Kirk had drifted away from the show.
03:11When he got married during a summer hiatus up in New York,
03:15none of us were invited. He had pretty much made it clear he needed his separation from us.
03:20In recent years, Cameron has released videos called Living Room Reset, where he talks about his faith.
03:26In 1997, New York rapper Mace had a smash record on Sean Diddy Combs' record label called Harlem World,
03:36a bunch of adoring fans, and was rumored to be dating singer Brandy when her career was red hot.
03:42Two years later, out of the clear blue, Mace announced his retirement from music. He then became
03:48a preacher at El Elion International Church in Atlanta. He said on New York radio station Hot 97 in 1999,
03:57I gotta do what makes me happy. A lot of people gonna say I'm crazy.
04:01I'm leaving money behind and a lot of things. But it's just, you know, how I feel in my heart.
04:06Once God puts something in your heart, you know. God talks to everyone different.
04:12Mace returned to his rap career after releasing his 2004 album, Welcome Back, but in 2014,
04:19some of Mace's congregation spoke to TMZ and blasted him, saying he wasn't sincere about being a
04:25Christian. The New York-born artist reportedly left El Elion International Church that same year to
04:32focus on rap full-time, according to TMZ, but he hasn't released an album since then.
04:37In a 2012 video for the Forerunner Church's YouTube channel, actor Angus T. Jones said that
04:45he found Christianity and was a Seventh-day Adventist. He also explained how the conversion
04:50affected his view of Two and a Half Men, the sitcom he'd been on since 2003. He said,
04:57If you watch Two and a Half Men, please stop watching Two and a Half Men. I'm on Two and a Half Men,
05:03and I don't want to be on it. Please stop watching it. Please stop filling your head with filth."
05:09After leaving the show when its tenth season concluded, Jones became a student at the University
05:14of Colorado at Boulder, majoring in Jewish studies. He returned to Two and a Half Men for the series
05:20finale in 2015. One year later, he told People that he stepped away from faith-based organizations
05:27because he felt they put a, quote, stamp of approval on how good or bad he is.
05:32Jones also spoke about returning to acting during that interview, saying,
05:37The door is definitely still open for me to do that, but I'm taking things slowly.
05:42As of 2019, Jones seemed just fine with being away from film sets. He wrote on Instagram in May of
05:49that year. There is only one success — the ability to lead the life that one wants.
05:55In 2010, Julia Roberts played author Elizabeth Gilbert in the film adaptation of the celebrated
06:02memoir, Eat, Pray, Love. The story surrounds Gilbert going on a year-long trip of self-discovery
06:08to Italy, India, then Indonesia. The Times of India reported in 2010 that Roberts converted to Hinduism
06:16while shooting in India, proving that art and life often mirror each other, as many say.
06:22After her conversion, the actress reportedly began attending a Los Angeles Hindu temple,
06:28as did her husband Daniel Motor and their children Hazel, Phineas, and Henry. And all of them also
06:35chant, pray, and celebrate on a regular basis. In a 2010 interview with The Hindu, Roberts said,
06:42"...My opting for Hinduism is not a religious gimmick. I have no intention of demeaning any
06:48other religion simply because of my fondness for Hinduism. I don't believe in comparing
06:53religions or human beings. I have received real spiritual satisfaction through Hinduism."
07:00At a 2011 Eat, Pray, Love press conference, Roberts wanted to make it clear that the film didn't
07:07influence her religious conversion. She shared,
07:10"...I didn't suddenly make this movie and start practicing Hinduism.
07:14It's just something that's been part of my life for a very long time."
07:18Before Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was known as the legendary NBA star, he converted to Islam in 1971
07:26and received plenty of blowback. The retired center made the announcement about his conversion one day
07:32after he and the Milwaukee Bucks won their first NBA championship. In his 2017 memoir,
07:39Becoming Kareem, growing up on and off the court, he wrote,
07:43"...because of my fame as a professional basketball player, and because so few Americans knew anything
07:48about Islam back in the 70s, there was a lot of angry backlash. People did not want me messing with
07:54their idea of who I was or what I represented to them. To many, by changing my religion and name,
08:01I was no longer the typical American kid playing a typical American sport, embodying typical American
08:08values." Jabbar also addressed his conversion in a 2015 article that he penned for Al Jazeera America,
08:15writing,
08:16"...for most people, converting from one religion to another is a private matter, requiring intense
08:22scrutiny of one's conscience. But when you're famous, it becomes a public spectacle for one and all to
08:29debate." The beloved rocker George Harrison discovered Hinduism in his 20s. He then began
08:35visiting India regularly and embraced Hare Krishna traditions. In a 1982 interview with the Prabhupada
08:42Hare Krishna News Network, Harrison said,
08:45"...I always felt at home with Krishna. You see, it was already a part of me. I think it's something
08:50that's been with me from my previous birth. I'd rather be one of the devotees of God than one of the
08:56straight, so-called sane or normal people who just don't understand that man is a spiritual being,
09:02that he has a soul." Harrison's beliefs were also a big piece of his solo career after the Beatles
09:08went their separate ways. His 1970s album, All Things Must Pass, featured the hit single,
09:15My Sweet Lord. In it, Harrison sings,
09:18"...I really want to know you, really want to go with you. I really want to show you, Lord,
09:24that it won't take long."
09:26In 2002, No Malice and Pusha T released their debut album, Lord Willen. The album took off,
09:33and they released two more well-received albums, 2006's Hell Hath No Fury and 2009's Till the Casket
09:42Drops. But there wouldn't be any more albums from the group after Malice found Christianity.
09:47He told The Village Voice in 2011,
09:50My perspective on things that I once deemed important and trivial has changed.
09:55A lot of what I tried to attain was like chasing the wind. I was chasing all these material things,
10:01money, women, just looking for fulfillment. Ultimately, though, my fulfillment came from my faith.
10:07No Malice changed his name in 2012, which he announced on social media, tweeting,
10:13RIP Malice, August 20, 2002, through March 6, 2012.
10:19He also talked about the name change on Vlad TV in 2017, sharing,
10:25I absolutely know that there is nothing malicious about me. I'm actually called to love and to love
10:32everyone.
10:32When Bob Marley was a young man in The Wailers, he wore suits and kept a conservative-looking haircut.
10:40Then, Marley found Rastafarianism, a religion that started in Jamaica in the 1930s. During a 1980
10:47interview with reporter Gil Noble, Marley said that he found Rastafarianism at around 18 years old,
10:53and grew into it once meeting other followers in Kingston, Jamaica. The late singer's music and career
11:00would then mirror his newfound beliefs, especially with his signature dreadlocks worn by many Rastafarians.
11:07There were also less songs about partying and more about being a Rasta, like Rasta Man Live Up
11:13and Forever Loving Ja. After infusing his beliefs into his music, Marley's career took off even further,
11:21and he became the biggest reggae artist in the world — a title that many say he still holds today.
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