Parents' Guide to Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult

BRING ME THE BEAUTIES: A MODEL CULT is a three-part TV docuseries that tells the bizarre story of an internationally renowned model's long involvement with a New Age doomsday group. It was 1978 when 16-year-old high school student John Richards Hoyt, now known professionally as Hoyt Richards, met the late Manhattan socialite and self-proclaimed spiritual astrologer and self-improvement guru Frederick von Mierers. Richards was drawn to the 30-something's teachings, and after graduating from Princeton University, he moved into von Mierers' New York City apartment, worked as a model, and lived a life seeking deep meaning and self-discipline while enjoying lavish parties to which only "beautiful people" were to be invited. While von Mierers, who claimed to be an alien inhabiting a human body, used public access TV to deliver astrology readings and promote his teachings, which he referred to as Eternal Values, the socialite was simultaneously reshaping his followers from a loose New Age social circle into a highly structured organization. Behind the scenes, he and his most loyal followers employed coercive tactics to ensure group conformity while exploiting its members financially, mentally, and emotionally. Now Richards is sharing what made him vulnerable to von Mierers' control, which led to years of estrangement from his family and a willingness to fund Eternal Values with the millions of dollars he earned as one of the world's first male supermodels while exploiting his connections to find new recruits. Interviews with other Eternal Values survivors, including actor Dar Dixon and former Elizabeth Arden model Jacki Adams, also help shed light on the Eternal Values group lifestyle. How they were able to get out, and in some cases help dismantle the group, is also discussed.