Shraman Mitra
Netflix’s ‘How To Become a Cult Leader’ delves deep into the inner workings of six infamous cults and effectively portrays the psychological tactics cult leaders use to manipulate the masses. Moreover, it even features one-on-one interviews with former cult members in an effort to make the viewer relate to life in such cults. Likewise, one such interview introduces us to Lola Blanc, a former cult member, who has since broken out of the loop to chart her own path through life.
Who Is Lola Blanc?
Interestingly, Lola’s parents were devout Mormons, and they baptized her into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when she was just 8-years-old. Even though the Mormon church encourages its followers to share a declaration of their faith every month publicly, Lola felt extremely uncomfortable going up to the microphone in front of the whole congregation. Moreover, she mentioned that after her parents got divorced and her mother fell in love with someone from outside the church, their entire family was ostracized until they moved to Utah. In Utah, Lola and her mother began earning a living as ventriloquists until they came across a man who convinced them that he was a prophet chosen by god.
However, like most cults, the man began imposing his orders on Lola’s mother, initially taking her as his spiritual wife and forcing her to sell all her belongings and donate the money to his foundation. Subsequently, Lola and her brothers had to move to a friend’s house since the man did not allow their mother to stay with her kids. Yet, the truth dawned on Lola when she went to visit her mother and discovered that she was being forced to stay at a filthy and rundown hotel.
On top of it, Lola learned that the man who claimed to be a prophet of god was coercing her mother to have sex with several others, despite her reluctance. Eventually, one of these men sent to have sex with her dropped the act and disclosed how the entire thing was a scam. He mentioned that the man who claimed to be a prophet and his girlfriend ran the whole con, and whatever money Lola’s mother sent the foundation was going straight into their bank accounts. Naturally, such a revelation left Lola’s mother completely devastated, but her children helped her get back on her feet.
Lola Blanc is a Podcast Host Now
It was pretty upsetting for Lola Blanc to witness her mother go through such an ordeal, but she used music and songwriting to deal with the pain. Moreover, sharing the incident with others helped, and Lola soon found herself talking about her experiences on various platforms and talk shows. Once Lola’s music began garnering attention, she took it up as a full-time profession and is currently pretty well-known as a singer and songwriter. On top of it, apart from making quite a name for herself as an actress in the film industry, Lola has also dipped her toe in filmmaking and is credited as the director of the short film ‘Pruning.’
Currently, Lola appears to reside in Los Angeles, California, and is in a happy relationship with Jack Bedrosian. In fact, the actress even described her relationship through an adorable post on social media, where she said, “Living with Jack is like getting to go on a tiny vacation with my best friend every night. There’s no one I’d rather let steal all my dude friends, and watch highbrow cinema/lowbrow entertainment with in bed, and explore all the food/art/creative/travel/social possibilities this world has to offer.”
Moreover, while Lola still shares a warm and affectionate bond with her siblings, she is also quite close to her mother and often takes time out of her busy schedule to spend with her loved ones. Additionally, instead of letting her previous cult experience ruin her life, Lola has taken up the mantle to educate others about cult manipulation and does so through the ‘Trust Me Podcast,’ which she co-hosts with Meagan Elizabeth Grainger.
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