With the recent Harvey Weinstein scandal, numerous popular female celebrities have come forward and revealed their horrendous encounters with numerous other high-profile men in the entertainment industry, including Lars Von Trier, famed magician David Blaine, and even Harvey’s brother, Bob Weinstein. While the media and focus is now on bringing awareness and change to the prevalence of s*xual assault that women face in institutions as ingrained in our society as the work force, another issue brought about in the midst of prosecuting and seeking justice for victims by these major motion picture and television business moguls is the lack of true knowledge as to what lies in the pasts of many of these highly-regarded, accolade-achieving individuals and what secrets they may be currently hiding in their personal lives.

Additionally, while it is evident that the vast majority of “dirt” and dark personal histories may be mostly affiliated with the male gender in the sphere of the Hollywood work environment, some of the women in movies and television today, who have gone on to receive Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes, have additionally had some truly horrifying and dark pasts in their now-celebrated lives.

The following are 15 iconic Hollywood starlets with some of the most dark and disturbing histories within the realm of celebrities:

15. Michelle Pfeiffer

After arriving in Los Angeles as a promising and aspiring actress, the now highly-acclaimed Michelle Pfeiffer once became involved with a couple who were teachers of “Breatharianism.” Breatharians believe that like plants, humans too can achieve photosynthesis and can therefore absorb any and all nutrients accordingly from the sun’s light, without any food or water. The eccentric ‘religion’ is currently guided by Jasmuheen, a self-proclaimed “Ambassador of Peace, International lecturer, author, and leading researcher,” and has moreover been the cause of numerous fatalities in multiple deaths over the years.

In a historic interview with Michelle Pfeiffer by The Telegraph, Pfeiffer said, “I had to pay for all the time I was there, so it was financially very draining. They believed that people in their highest state were breatharian.” Pfeiffer and the other minds that the couple managed to manipulate were expected to live in accordance with this strict lifestyle. Michelle Pfeiffer didn’t realize that she was involved with a cult until she was helping her first husband, Peter Horton, prepare for a role in a movie about Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s cult. Only then did the actress realize that the couple she was involved with was most certainly a truly disturbed cultist practice and decided to leave.

14. Winona Ryder

Winona Ryder is one of the most beloved actresses of our time, establishing herself early as a young Goth romantic in the popular comedy-horror movie Beetlejuice, and moving on to Oscar-winning, critically acclaiming roles in Heathers, The Crucible, and Black Swan, as well as the new popular Netflix original production Stranger Things. One would have trouble believing that the starlet had any trouble growing into her high-profile status as a celebrity. When Ryder was merely seven years old, her family moved to the “Rainbow Family Commune of Living,” a large farm complex in Mendocino, California where the family lived with seven other families. At the complex, which lacked any electricity, television, or music, the intense societal repression pushed Ryder into the world of literature, and she first began developing an interest in acting. After her time at the complex during which Ryder had rose to stardom, the young actress still managed to get involved in some petty offenses, even getting caught shoplifting while nonchalantly attempting to carry thousands of dollars worth of merchandise right out the front door at the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills.

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