01x02 - The Cult of Carbon Nation

[bunniefuu]

[grim music]

♪ ♪

- When Natureboy started,
people viewed him favorably.

- Everybody here met on social
media, and we all came together

and brung
our resources together.

- You had people coming in
from everywhere.

And I'm thinking like,
oh, this is a real movement.

- We're actually
out here in nature

to show the world
who Black people are.

- He said we should stop
fighting the system altogether

and just leave.

VELVET: It was beautiful
sceneries, beautiful pictures.

I couldn't have had
a better experience.

[chuckles]

But then there
was this one day

we got deported
from Costa Rica.

FOLLOWERS:
No! No! No! No!

- Immigration--it was a prison.

Let me tell you something--
they beat our a*s like animals.

Shipped back
to our so-called owners,

the United States of America.

VELVET: We didn't really know
what's gonna happen,

What next?

- My work is not done yet.

We're going back to the jungle.

AARON:
And that's when things

started to escalate.

PERSON:
Absolutely not.

- What the f*ck?

- It became verbal abuse,
sexual abuse,

physical and spiritual abuse.

- A woman needs to be dominated
at all times.

She want to be dominated
at all times, homey.

AARON: He was saying,
now I'm the chief.

Now I'm the Messiah.

♪ ♪

CHANTELLE:
I wanted to shine light

on what was happening--
this is a cult.

- This is our cult.

I'm the cult leader.
I'm Natureboy.

CHANTELLE: I never imagined
in a million years

that it would culminate

into what it eventually
culminated into.

[indistinct shouting]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

KENDRA: I grew up
in a Christian home.

My family made sure
that we were always involved

in, like, a lot of different
activities, sports.

They used to take us
to Disneyland

and Disney World.

But I always felt
kind of different.

I didn't have this idea
of what my career would be

or who I--you know, what
I wanted to do with my life.

CHANTELLE: Natureboy
was trying to attract

new members by playing victim.

It was an advertisement
to join the cult

and to fight the establishment.

- We at the border
in Immigration.

We ain't break no laws.

I'm leaving.
I'm going to the tropics.

Where the f*ck you gonna be?

KENDRA: What I saw
on social media was, like,

a lot of things about us
fighting against the system.

I was like, I need to do that.

At the time,

they were actually staying
in Texas.

- Hold on real quick.

We are not staying
in the northern hemisphere.

I'm letting you know--
Melanation is leaving.

You better leave, too.
You better dip.

KENDRA: I got a message
from one of the members

of the group
who called me on video chat.

And Natureboy got
in the frame of the camera,

and he was like,
when are you coming out here?

Yeah, we're about
to leave out soon.

We're headed to Belize.
Are you coming?

You coming,
you got to come now.

So...

I just--I left, turned off
my phone, and...

[inhales deeply]

I think I--

I blocked--I blocked all
my family members' numbers.

And I just got
on the flight to Texas.

[bell dings]

[airplane engine roaring]

[percussive music]

NATUREBOY: It's not a game.
You heard?

Look, let's pull it out.

We got room, too--
eight-person tent right here.

- We were buying,
like, solar panels

and tents and everything
that we would need

to live in Belize.

And then we drove through
Mexico to get to Belize.

[bird shrieks]

♪ ♪

NATUREBOY:
We living proof

that the only thing
that's stopping you is you.

And here we are
in beautiful Belize.

Doesn't matter what part it is.

Here we are.

KENDRA:
We're going to the rivers.

You know, he's taking us
to these beautiful places.

- This is what he
was projecting to the public.

So this is what the public was
looking at from the outside.

KENDRA: Come join me.
We're living off the grid.

It just felt like, okay,
we're building something.

We're building onto something.

It really felt
like utopia to me.

[birds chirping]

CHANTELLE:
It was never a utopia.

It was always shady
from day one.

It was just these stories
didn't get out to the public

until later.

Natureboy wanted complete control

over what goes on
in that group surroundings,

and he wanted control
over the women.

- I would never put a woman
in a man's place.

A man is for power,
man power, man power.

A woman's job in--
within that realm,

other woman's jobs
would be to nurse

and nurture the agenda
of those rules.

♪ ♪

KENDRA: In Belize,
when we first got there,

he told us we weren't allowed
to be single as a woman.

As a male, you could.

But as a woman,
you had to be with someone.

CHANTELLE:
Natureboy started controlling

who gets to be with who,

control over their movements,
control over the finances,

just control over every aspect
of their life.

- I remember Natureboy saying,
like, what is a boyfriend?

What is a girlfriend?

Like, we're not kids.
We're not boys and girls.

Like, if you're going to be
with somebody,

then that should be your wife,
or that should be your husband.

So he told me.

He's like, well, there's
this guy that's into you,

and I think, like,
you guys should try it out.

It was weird.

It was like we had, like,
this mini marriage ceremony.

[percussive music]

And everybody clapped
and celebrated.

And I had never talked
to him...

ever.

Like, we never even
had a conversation.

After that little ceremony,
we went outside,

and we talked to each other
for the first time.

CHANTELLE: Natureboy was
the one that made the decision

on whether or not these men
could establish relationships

with these women.

And he controlled every facet.

He was touting, you know,
we want to build tribes here.

I want my men to have
multiple wives, like me.

KENDRA: Marriage wasn't legal,
you know, in the cult.

It was just, if you say
you're married, you are.

And the next day, if you say
you're not, you're not.

For the woman, it was all of--

it was like you were basically
in submission to that man 100%.

Whatever he wanted
you to do, you did it.

I was still a virgin.

One of the guys
that I was with,

because I wasn't having sex
with him,

he would just, like, jerk off
in the middle of the night

and ej*cul*te all over me.

Because we were living in--

we were sleeping in tents,
I woke up,

and, like, I had been, like,
attacked by ants

because I had that all over me.

[percussive music]

♪ ♪

VELVET: Meeting Olmek
for the first time

was one of the most
beautiful experiences

I've ever had in my life.

- Welcome back.
- Peace reflections.

OLMEK:
Actually, the government...

- I couldn't have had
a better experience.

[chuckles]

It was a nine-month time span

that Olmek
and I were together.

First--beginning of it,
first three months were great.

The reason why me
and Olmek did not last

was because of the influence
of Natureboy.

[dark music]

CHANTELLE: There was a lot
of manipulation

that was going on
amongst couples--

him trying to separate couples.

♪ ♪

VELVET: One day, me and Olmek
got into a huge argument.

Natureboy talked to me.

It was, Olmek doesn't love you.

He doesn't want to be with you.

You shouldn't be with him.

You're smarter than him.
You are--you can do better.

You should get
out of this relationship now.

So...

me and Olmek finally ended
our relationship.

[quirky music]

♪ ♪

And I told Natureboy I wanted
to, you know, do my own thing,

but Natureboy
was not having it.

So he love-bombed me
and love-bombed me

and love-bombed me.

Every time
a conversation happened

between Natureboy and I,
it was very enlightening.

You know, there was
a huge thing about him

being God in our higher self.

So I'm thinking like,
maybe this is the next level up

in a relationship.

Maybe this is the person
that I'm supposed to be with.

So I choose--I'm like,
yeah, I want to be with you.

Cool.
Like, let's see what happens.

♪ ♪

He immediately wanted
to get me pregnant.

He immediately made me
queen of Carbon Nation.

[solemn music]

NATUREBOY: Reflection!
[gong sounds]

- Who am I?

FOLLOWERS: Queen Eliana,
commander in chief

of the earth plane,
my highest self.

- We were all puppets
in this video.

[chuckles]

- Where do you come from?

- He fussed at every single
person in this video

to do it and to get it right.

NATUREBOY:
I love myself.

VELVET:
But he would have us

standing out here in the sun
for hours and hours.

After it was all over,
he scolded me so much

because he felt like...

I didn't have enough confidence
in the video

and that I had--
should have sounded more sure.

But this is not my energy.

♪ ♪

There was a lot of things

that I didn't want to do
as chieftess.

And he would argue with me
in front of everybody.

Natureboy's definition
wasn't the real definition

of what a queen is
or what a chieftess is.

He was big on me

creating a space...

for him to be intimate
with all of these women...

whether he was
with them or not.

He wanted me to be

a brothel...

manager.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- Any woman
that demands monogamy

is against nature.

And she is a devil and a demon.

- Natureboy used his
relationship with Velvet--

Me and Velvet were very close
when I first met her.

[laughter]

They invited me
to their tent one night

to watch a movie.

Like, I was laying
next to Velvet,

and Natureboy was
on the other side of her.

And everything
was pretty normal.

And then all of a sudden,
like, he shifted the energy.

♪ ♪

He wanted to have sex with me
to break my virginity.

And...

and he wanted her to be there

and basically hold my hand
through it.

She immediately
was just like, no.

Like, I don't want to do that.

And he told her, like,
you're going to do it.

And he made her hold my hand
through the whole thing.

♪ ♪

Every time having sex
with Natureboy was coercion.

It was never like, yeah,
I want to have sex with you.

I never said "stop" or "no,"

um, but it was
very uncomfortable.

♪ ♪

I don't think that...

anybody ever could say no
to Natureboy.

That's not a thing.

♪ ♪

- How I would describe
what happened to me...

is like false advertisement.

I...

thought I was joining a group

that shared
the same ideals as me.

[grim music]

I continued to watch
video after video,

video after video,

to the point where I decided
that I wanted to act on it.

♪ ♪

My military experience
definitely contributed

to me going into the cult
because of the...

the need for brotherhood,

the need to belong
to some type of a mission.

- The day
we were leaving Belize,

we actually picked up Aaron
from the airport.

And when I saw Aaron,
I was like, that's my husband.

Like, that's who
I'm supposed to be with.

But I didn't know
how to, like, say that,

because, like,
I'm in a relationship.

And I'm like,
how am I going to explain

that I don't really want to be
with this guy?

Like, I don't want
to be your wife

because I want to be his wife.

AARON: When I got there--
and I'm taking in the sights

of being in the tropics
for the first time.

And we're just driving,
we're just driving,

we're just driving,
and we ended up in Mexico.

♪ ♪

And that's when...

things started to escalate.

NATUREBOY:
Peace, reflections.

Told you I'd take you
on a tour of the new spot.

KENDRA:
We were living in this house--

just a lot of nature
around us.

We slept in tents, but we had
this big house to cook in.

We had a studio in there,
which we recorded music.

NATUREBOY:
Aw, look at the lovebirds.

KENDRA: Couple days
into us being there,

Aaron said
that he was attracted to me.

Eligio's like,
okay, basically, you guys

can be together.

And, um...

we were together
ever since that moment.

[dramatic music]

VELVET: Peace and love, reflections.

Welcome back.

Day-to-day life
in Carbon Nation

was content creation.

Natureboy encouraged me

and everybody else

to regurgitate...

reiterate "verbatimly"...

what he was teaching us.

That the most honorable
prophet,

Eligio the Christ, teaches us.

- Because
the most honorable prophet,

Eligio the Christ, teaches us
that love is understanding.

- Love is understanding.
- Love is understanding.

NATUREBOY:
Love is understanding.

That's what the unc mean.

- There's something
about the human mind

that it tends to absorb

what it hears over
and over and over

and over and over again,
so going online...

Astrology is the--
- Astrology is the mechanics.

- Astrology is the mechanics
of consciousness.

- Posting these things,
saying these things,

it makes your mind highly...

receptive to the teachings,
because that's all you hear.

- Yerp.
Peace, reflections.

Once you start saying all
these things on social media,

it's like,
this is my identity now.

- Natureboy is just one
of the latest installments

of a figure
who has showed its face

for centuries.

MAX: Jim Jones's hypnotic hold
over his followers

was more pervasive
than originally thought.

An individual's ability
to control minds

can result in the most
unspeakable human catastrophe.

- It's cult leader 101--

Jim Jones, Charles Manson,
David Berg.

So many cult leaders
use the same strategy.

I'm God.
You should listen to me.

I'm your salvation.

- The members
of the Peoples Temple

lived in the San Francisco area

before making the fatal move
to Jonestown.

REPORTER: Jim Jones led
over 900 of his followers

into the mass suicide.

AARON:
Cults don't want you to think.

They want you
to quickly reach conclusions

that are congruent
with the cult agenda.

CHANTELLE:
Carbon Nation is a group

that tried to frame themself
off of, you know,

the Jim Joneses
and the Charles Mansons

and just kind of reframed it
through a lens

of false spirituality,

just to attract
more young people

with things
that sounded really good.

VELVET:
Natureboy's following grew.

He hit corners all
over the United States.

- Jamaica, London.

AARON:


VELVET:


CHANTELLE:
Just from everywhere--

Australia, Canada.

So he was influencing people
from all over.

They were going live
on Instagram daily,

sometimes for hours a day,
hours a day.

♪ ♪

They were living
their life publicly,

showing their lifestyle.

People viewed him favorably.

[chiming]

But there were
some darker elements

at play there.

NATUREBOY: Anybody
that got any common sense

can feel
that something's coming.

CHANTELLE:
So I started my channel

for the specific purpose

of archiving
and documenting everything.

- What up, what up?

♪ ♪

CHANTELLE:
I wanted to shine light

on what was happening.

This is a cult.

- You cannot serve God
and money.

Quit your job.

Give away everything
that you own.

CHANTELLE: He had
a huge following on Facebook,

a big following on Instagram.

[chiming]

And so there were
a lot of content creators

that were covering them.

- You're a cult,
plain and simple.

- Your a*s on the phone telling
us to put our phone down.

What the f*ck is
you talking about?

- And then he would allow them
to have a relationship.

Then he would snatch
their girl from them.

- Or it could possibly turn

into a Jim Jones type
of affair.

CHANTELLE: Natureboy
is spreading propaganda

and recruiting new members
into a sex cult.

- Some things
and some people in your life,

you got to let go of.

CHANTELLE: He is physically
abusing the women,

sexually abusing the women.

[spiritual music]

♪ ♪

VELVET: Once we got to Mexico,
he started to open up

about all
of his sexual fantasies.

He wanted me to, like,
have threesomes with him,

which he would call polygamy.

- So you said what?

VELVET:
I was just explaining to him

the conflict that I felt

when it comes to being
in a polygamous relationship.

In my understanding,

I was going to help him choose
who we were--

who we were going to be with,

but it never worked out
that way.

But I'm noticing a pattern
that I act the same way.

Like, I react to polygamy
the same way.

I just don't like it.

I don't.

It doesn't make me happy.

He knew I didn't like to do it.

He would force me
to give him head

and then have the other woman
on his n*pples.

And that was--

Oh, my God,
that was just, like...

NATUREBOY:
Eliana, kiss--kiss Aya.

Eliana, kiss Aya.
[laughing]

Turn around.
Let me see it.

Let me see my angels,
my butterflies.

Look at these butterflies.

Y'all got to turn
all the way around.

KENDRA: As a woman,
being a wife of someone,

you took care of them.

And, ultimately,
you were in charge

of basically
reproducing that man,

like, having their children.

So, if your husband
wants to have sex with you,

you kind of--you just have
to go along with it.

Natureboy made a video saying
that, like, women--

women really want to get r*ped.

- Their views on women
were disturbing.

You are a servant.

You are to do as I say...

not as I do.

- I'm your queen.

Your mind is my mind.

The day I decided to marry you
was the day I fully committed.

- Mm.

- You are to follow my lead.

I am the boss.

I am God. I am--
You worship me.

- He needed to be elevated
above the other guys there.

He was saying he had--all
of the women belonged to him.

- He would randomly call
these meetings,

and he'd be like, y'all,
I'm getting this energy.

I'm getting this sense that
the universe wants me to sleep

with all the women here.

AARON: It's not
how he presented himself

when I first joined.

He was just master teacher,
kind of like a professor.

But it started escalating
from that to...

now I'm chief.

Now I'm the Messiah.

[tense music]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- As I began to view him
as the messenger

for, you know,
African American people...

If Martin Luther King
had the Internet,

he would be on the Internet.

If Malcolm X
had the Internet, he--

they would be on the Internet.

This is the age of information.

At the height
of my brainwashing,

I viewed him as the Messiah.

One of the reasons
I believe he was the Messiah

was because
of the biblical parallels

he would use.

- You all bow to me!

There will be
no "crucification"

of me this time.

Different time.

- He would say
that the world hated Jesus

and that...

look at how much hate
he gets online.

- Why do they hate me so much?

They hate me
because it has to be this way.

It has already been written.

I am the way, the truth,
and the light.

AARON:
He would say that Jesus

had to be brought up...

and raised amongst the trials

and tribulations of people
in order to understand

and to be able to help them
out of their circumstances.

He said he was someone

who had been through
everything in the world

for the sole purpose of being
able to help other people

get over those things.

- Natureboy would sit us down,

and he would talk to us
for hours and hours

about his childhood.

A part of me believes
that he struggles

with liberating himself
from his own traumas

and then and therefore
inflicts it on other people.

- 1982, April 29th...

my mom was in her 30s.

It was the crack era
in Harlem, New York City.

[hip-hop music]

♪ ♪

I was a crack baby.
I was born a crack baby.

My dad was


I was born, and they died.

She died of an overdose...

and my father died
in his sleep.

CHANTELLE:
His early life was spent,

along with his brother,
in foster care.

- He used to tell a story

about how his foster mother
was a*usive.

- They would take Ajax

and brush his skin
with a scrub brush,

and they would call him
too Black,

and they would try to scrub
his skin away.

- She would always tell me that
because I was dark-skinned

that I was dirty.

Like, she used to put, like,
Ajax all over me in the tub

and make me scrub my skin.

- He talks of being treated
differently

because of his skin tone,
which I don't believe that.

And the family

that have the same
skin complexion as Eligio,

and it's a Black family.

He was a troubled child.

He would--the type of kid
that would start fights.

AARON: He said
he was sexually abused.

He said he had went
to juvenile prison.

NATUREBOY: Started hanging
in the streets,

smoking cigarettes,
um, just smoking weed,

just doing
all kind of mischief,

hanging with the wrong kids.

VELVET:
He got into the streets.

CHANTELLE:
He was sleeping in cars.

- He said he was a male model,
and he was a male dancer.

CHANTELLE:
He started off stripping

for women and then men.

- He said he worked

in the--the
adult-entertainment industry.

He said that he had been

in, you know, different
relationships with women.

You know, here's the thing--

I don't know if any of
this stuff actually happened.

I'm just going off
of what he told me.

CHANTELLE: He eventually met
his son's baby mom--

his second son--Myisha.

Had a relationship with her.

He abused her
so heavily one day

that he was arrested.

That is when Eligio

decided to go
on a spiritual journey.

I believe Eligio took from
those experiences as a kid

and incorporated them
into leading people,

being a cult leader, learning
how to manipulate people.

VELVET:
In the beginning,

I don't feel
like I-I seen red flags.

[chuckles]

It was literally perfect.

[laughs]
- This your page, man.

- Peace reflections.

♪ ♪

When I got pregnant,
that was, like,

his ticket to abuse me.

[person wails]

♪ ♪

KENDRA:
We were literally living

around, like, fruit trees,
and everything was so nice--

music playing,
just great vibes.

And all of a sudden, you
just hear, like, screaming.

[person wailing]

AARON:
You would see some type

of maybe laceration
or bruise on her face

that wasn't present
the day before.

And so it became commonplace.

[food sizzling in pot]
- Hey!

- What y'all doing?
- We are cooking.

Velvet would come
down to the kitchen.

She would have scratches
or bruises, and I'd be like,

are you okay?

And she would just be
smiling, like, yeah, I'm fine.

Everything's fine, you know?
Like, I'm great.

♪ ♪

AARON:
My response to it

was that this is...

none of my business.

I'm believing
that he's disciplining her,

and it's not abuse
and that this needs to be done

in order to correct...

the masculine traits

she learned from America.

Man, she really need
to get herself together,

and this wouldn't have
to happen to her.

That's what the belief system
was at the time.

♪ ♪

- Stop dealing with these women
that ain't got no respect

for your manhood, bro.

A woman needs to be dominated
at all times.

She want to be dominated
at all times, homey.

VELVET: He started
to, like, keep me

away from the group more.

NATUREBOY:


VELVET: If I ever wanted
to see my family,

talk to them,
friends, anything, he was--

Natureboy was
totally against it.

He didn't want none of us
to talk to our family.

And if we did talk
to our family,

he wanted to be there so that
he can guide the conversation.

To our own selves.

- All right, so let me--
What's going on, Pop?

VELVET: His goal
was to keep me in the blind

so that he can utilize me

in whatever way
that he wanted to.

♪ ♪

[birds chirping,
monkeys calling]

When I got closer
to the end of my pregnancy,

closer to labor...

um, Natureboy became
emotionally distant.

♪ ♪

Going through labor,
he goes live.

- Peace reflections.

Y'all ain't going to believe
what happened, man.

She was just hurting
really bad.

So we drove two hours
to this hospital,

where we at right now,

where we know that she going
to get professional attention.

VELVET:
Midway through the labor--

this was before I got
the epidural--

he starts to tell me that
he knows that I'm not weak.

[monitor beeping]

When I actually gave birth,

he tries talking
about it live on Instagram.

NURSE:
You got to push.

Born.
[baby crying]

VELVET: The baby
came out healthy.

The baby was great.

NURSE:
They're cutting the cord.

[baby crying]

- [sniffles]

[indistinct chatter]

NURSE: They're gonna
let him take it.

They're gonna let him
take the placenta.

[indistinct chatter]

VELVET:
When I got back to the house

that we were living in,
he was so mean to me.

[solemn music]

♪ ♪

NATUREBOY:
Keep the camera rolling.

f*ck it.
Let them see it all.

You can't keep
doing this to me.

I didn't do nothing
to deserve this.

You have to communicate.

VELVET: My body was healing
from pregnancy.

He would call me weak

and tell me that I need
to get up and move around,

to the point where I was, like,
falling deeper

into postpartum depression.

NATUREBOY:
You're the one

making this sh*t
complicated, man.

We've been--we've been doing
this sh*t for years.

You know what time it is.

You should be mad
at your own self

because we've been
here before, Eliana.

CHANTELLE: After the birth of
his daughter, a lot changed.

I think that he, you know--

he started to, you know,
need other things.

- Natureboy literally utilized

that time after I gave birth

to have sex with as many women
as he could...

to engage me
into sexual activity

as much as he could--
baby present and all.

- That's when everything
just came to a head,

and you started seeing her...

just dissenting
on the live streams.

NATUREBOY:
What are you about to do?

- Can't you just leave
me alone?

NATUREBOY: No, I can't!
You've got my child!

- You don't care.
NATUREBOY: Yes, I do!

What the hell are
you talking about?

VELVET: I have been
in numerous occasions

where I had to just bow down

and perform sexual activity

to be able to escape
out of his presence,

to get him to shut up,

to get him away from me,

to get him to stop hitting me,
to get him to stop choking me,

to get him to stop slamming me
onto the ground...

NATUREBOY: Yo, sit down.
Sit down, yo!

The baby's in your hand, yo.

[baby crying]
Hold on.

VELVET: To get him to stop
taking my child out of my arms

when we are in an argument
to physically abuse me.

Even to get close to my child,

I would conform
to nonconsensual sex

so that I can have a bond
with my child.

It was that deep.

[train horn blaring]

[grim music]

♪ ♪

AARON: If Natureboy
says do something,

you're just supposed to do it,

because he is God.

It was not a tribe.

It was actually a cult,

and the agenda
was the cult leader

and the need for absolute rule,

absolute domination,
absolute power.

♪ ♪

- We must have order.

I am your leader.

♪ ♪

I am the chief commander...

of God's children.

- All right, so the hierarchy
works like this.

You have Natureboy at the top.

Parallel to him
would be the queen.

Underneath that, you have...

in the guys, the men, A-team.

They're the most trustworthy,
responsible,

loyal, capable.

We did all the finances.
We did all the transportation.

Underneath that,
you have B-team.

The B team couldn't come
and talk

directly to the cult leader,

but they had to go through us.

- The women
kind of fall into that

with who they're married to.

- So, just like
with any other cult,

your ultimate relationship
becomes with the leader.

- And Eligio wasn't afraid
to do that.

He wasn't afraid to take
that little bit of power

and rev--reverence that--that
these young people have for him

and take it
to the very extreme.

And we saw this lots
of different times.

- f*ck!
PERSON: My man.

- Come on in, bro!

Man, I was about to tear
this whole city down, bro.

- What we were doing--

it became
more and more ridiculous.

NATUREBOY:
I am your Messiah.

I'm the commander in chief
of this Earth plane.

KENDRA: When Natureboy
walked into a room,

we had to stand up and put
our hands behind our back.

And he would say that
was standing at attention.

You know,
if we didn't do that,

he would make us do push-ups
or squats.

Sleep was so controlled.

He would keep us up
for hours and hours

and hours in the night.

And if we were nodding off,

we would have to go stand
in the corner

for three hours
as a punishment.

- So it got to a point where
you didn't have a choice.

If you didn't do
what he said to do,

you were looked at--
you were quickly demoted.

You were quickly humiliated.

You were quickly devalued
amongst the group.

- Where we were staying,
we couldn't go

outside of the property
unless we were a part

of the go-out team.

And if you would try to go
outside those bounds,

you would get
in trouble for that.

NATUREBOY:
Did you think to contact me?

Speak up!

God damn it!

If something happened
to one of y'all,

that sh*t come back on me, bro!

[tense music]

VELVET: Another way
that he implemented structure

was through the food.

KENDRA:
Natureboy always eats first.

We could never accept our food
before him or our drinks.

And we couldn't eat
before he took a bite.

♪ ♪

The whole group
would be eating rice and beans

majority of the time.

He would get red snapper,

shrimp, sometimes lobsters.

He got the finest dining.

Sometimes he would even go
to restaurants

and go sit down and eat,
and we would be at home.

- As can you see--
Like, you see my body?

I'm eating what everybody else
is eating here,

and, literally,
I'm still solid.

I've still got muscles, and...

- I realized that the cult
and the cult leader--

they're delusional...

because they don't care
about the truth.

They care
about how they're perceived.

And...

to see them deliberately lie

just to keep an image going,

it's sad.

- A lot of the women,
I believe, were with him

because of the perks.

You got to travel more,
go more places,

and you got to eat better food.

NATUREBOY: Beans right there.
Ah-hi!

[both smooching]

♪ ♪

VELVET: We was facing
sleep deprivation.

We were facing malnutrition
at some point.

He treated all of us
like servants.

We were at his foot and hand,

beck and call to do whatever
it is that he wanted us to do.

- "I make the rules.
I call the shots.

And if people want
to follow me, they can."

And I think once he realized
that he did have

that type of power over people,

that was the point
at which he didn't care

to keep up
appearances anymore.

♪ ♪

And with that came...

look what I can do.

Look what I can say
to these women.

They're going to do
what I tell them to do.

NATUREBOY:
I'm God!

KENDRA:
He had this total control

because we never looked at him
as the enemy.

NATUREBOY: Get your
stinking a*s off me, h*.

On your f*cking face,
all of y'all.

CHANTELLE: And so,
once that was successful,

he had to up the stakes.

- Smack that.

f*ck is wrong with you?
Don't you ever disrespect me!

CHANTELLE: Look what
I can make the men do now.

- f*ck is wrong with you?

- There was never
a consistent time

of just depression and sadness

or euphoria and happiness.

It was a constant up-and-down,
up-and-down,

because what that does is,

it creates confusion...

and doubt in the people there,

which opens them up to be able
to be controlled

and manipulated.

- He wanted me
to submit to him.

He wanted to break my spirit.

[screams]

- It was like a slow cracking
of a windshield

until it just shatters.

♪ ♪

- He stopped caring.

He felt that he was getting
away with so much for so long.

NATUREBOY: f*ck off me, h*.
Back up.

f*cking playing, b*tch.

- Why not just show
you guys the real me?

- So there will be
no more Velvet...

and her child.

CHANTELLE: Why not display
who I really am?

♪ ♪