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"11 Celebrities Who Were Raised As Jehovah's Witnesses"
GettyThey might be in the spotlight now, but many celebs like Donald Glover and Michelle Rodriguez grew up in a Jehovah's Witness household.
Religion serves as a foundation for the lives of many families, influencing their values and guiding their ways of life. For followers of the Jehovah’s Witness faith, their lives are shaped by their own version of the Bible called the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures -- which encourages them to abide by a strict code of personal conduct.
While beliefs vary from person to person, many Jehovah’s Witnesses choose not to celebrate holidays, don’t vote in elections, and stay away from music and television. Although it may sound constricting, many followers say that the practice brings them peace. But like all religions, it’s not right for everyone and as adults, many people choose to step away from the church. That’s true for a handful celebrities who once followed the faith but have now left those beliefs in the past.
Read on more to find out about these famous Jehovah’s Witnesses…
Donald Glover
Donald Glover was raised in a Jehovah’s Witness household. Between his strict parents and their religious beliefs, he wasn’t allowed to watch television, attend magic shows or celebrate birthdays. Looking back, Donald says it made him feel like an outcast, especially growing up in the South -- but it completely shaped his creative identity.
“Being a Jehovah’s Witness was interesting. I think it amplified my own alienness. I was always the odd one out, and Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate Christmas, you don’t say the Pledge of Allegiance, and when you have Jewish kids in the class who don’t celebrate Christmas everyone understands, but when you say you’re a Jehovah’s Witness they say, ‘So… You come to my door at 9 a.m. and wake my family up? I don’t understand any of your rules,’” Donald told the Daily Beast.
He continued, “I believe it made me see the world differently. Part of the religion is teaching you that the world is an evil place, so trying to reconcile really liking stuff in the world but also being told it’s bad makes you want to figure out, ‘What is this?’ and ‘Why am I being drawn to this?’ My creative outlet was definitely shaped by being a Jehovah’s Witness.”
Donald is no longer a practicing Jehovah’s Witness.
Luke Evans
Luke Evans knew he was gay growing up, but since his family were Jehovah’s Witnesses, he made the choice to hide his identity. He explained that he knew if he came out, it would have implications for his parents, and he would be expelled from the community. On top of that, he was bullied in school for his religion. Looking back, he says he had to “try and make the best of a situation.”
“I just knew that because of the religion it would pose a very difficult situation for us, because the religion would not accept it,” he said on BBC Radio Wales’ Lucy Owen programme. “I guess I chose the religion. I’m not sure I believed in any of it, if I’m blatantly honest, but I didn’t have much choice. I was too young to leave home legally. If I'd have left, they’d have dragged me back.”
He has since disfellowshipped from the religion, and while his parents are still devout, they have remained on good terms.
Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez’s mother’s side of the family were practicing Jehovah’s Witnesses, and while she was growing up, she had to follow a lot of their very strict rules. She didn’t celebrate birthdays and couldn’t even watch Disney movies. Now, as an adult, she says she could never practice a religion that was so limiting.
“Birthdays and celebrating Halloween are evil. I didn’t get to watch Disney movies until I was in my teens because of all the witchcraft,” she recalled on Red Table Talk: The Estefans.
“As far as spending lots of time with that side of the family, no. I grew up knowing that you’re in this alone,” she continued. “Your mom gives birth to you, your family takes care of you, but in a sense you have to make your own in the world. For me, to have other people decide what that looks like, I could never live that life.”
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View StoryCoco Rocha
Coco Rocha grew up in a family of practicing Jehovah’s Witnesses. When she was 21, she made the choice to be officially baptized into the faith, as the religion requires followers to wait until they’re old enough to make their own informed decisions. Although the religion sometimes impacts her career as a model, she still says it’s incredibly important to her.
“My faith is everything. There aren’t many Witnesses who are in the public eye. I can’t even name any. It’s hard sometimes when you’re there alone. You’re not there with someone who can hold your hand and say we’ll do this together,” she told Du Jour magazine.
She added, “My list [of what I won’t do] compared with any other model’s is insane. No religious artifacts, no government artifacts. If I’m shooting with a male model, what is he exactly doing with me? What is he wearing? If I’m working with other models, what are they wearing? Are they playing something that I don’t want? In the beginning, the clients would say, ‘This is too much,’ but over time, the ones I liked kept working with me.”
Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell’s mother, Valerie, reportedly raised her daughter as a Jehovah’s Witness, but Naomi seemingly did not choose to practice the religion herself. As an adult, she did not get baptized into the faith.
“I was raised to be a Jehovah’s Witness, but I let it slip,” Valerie told the Daily Mail. “Now I have found it again, I feel much more at peace with myself and the world around me. I brought up Naomi as a Jehovah's Witness, but she must choose her faith for herself. I do give her literature on the subject though when she asks for it.”
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View StorySerena Williams
Serena Williams and her sister Venus were both raised as Jehovah’s Witnesses and still practice the religion today. Looking back, Serena says she grew up attending church and even took part in the required evangelizing door-to-door as part of the faith. Serena and her husband, Alexis Ohanian, have also chosen to raise their children in the faith.
“Being a Jehovah’s Witness is important to me, but I've never really practiced it and have been wanting to get into it,” she shared with Vogue in 2017. “Alexis didn’t grow up going to any church, but he’s really receptive and even takes the lead. He puts my needs first.”
Damon Wayans
Damon Wayans and his family have been Jehovah’s Witnesses all throughout their life. Although most followers of the religion choose not to celebrate holidays, Damon says his mother often recognized birthdays and holidays like Christmas -- even though his father did not approve.
“I love it. I think the greatest feeling you’ll have is to be at peace with God and peace with man because that puts you at peace with yourself,” Damon said on the Club Shay Shay podcast. “My prayers aren’t, ‘God forgive me.’ No, ‘Thank you. Thank you for my family. Thank you for this journey.’ It’s nothing but gratitude ’cause I ain’t living a life that I got to apologize for.”
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View StoryGeri Halliwell
When Geri Halliwell was a little girl, her mom became a practicing Jehovah’s Witness. Looking back, she says it was strange to suddenly stop taking part in holidays, and it made her feel isolated. Eventually, her mother decided it wasn’t right for them, and they left the church.
“I was brought up a Jehovah’s Witness. My mother went through a phase of missing out birthdays and Christmas, and that’s quite uncomfortable when you’re eight years old. You feel very excluded. Thankfully, my mum realised it wasn't for her,” Geri told The Guardian.
Ja Rule
Ja Rule was brought up in a Jehovah’s Witness household, but when he was a preteen, his mother decided to leave the religion. It drove a wedge in the family ,and the rapper was not allowed to see his mother. He saw how hurt she was and didn’t want to have anything to do with the religion.
“I was living with my grandmother at the time. My mom would get me on the weekends and stuff like that. And then they were like, ‘You’re not gonna be able to go with your mom on the weekends anymore,’” he shared on The Breakfast Club.
He continued, “I didn’t understand it like that. And I was like, ‘Well that’s not gonna fly, and I’m leaving here and gonna live with my mother.’ We were kinda like the black sheep now. Nobody was dealing with my mother, and that was crazy.”
Ja Rule no longer practices the faith but says that once he became famous, his family finally reopened their lines of communication with his mother.
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View StorySherri Shepherd
Sherri Shepherd says the Jehovah’s Witness faith was responsible for breaking apart her family when she was a little girl. Sheri explained that as a child, she was forced to stop talking with her father after she was punished for committing a sin, and he questioned a Jehovah’s Witness leader about their policies.
“I was told as a young girl we had to stop talking to my dad even though he lived in our house,” she said on the Journeys of Faith podcast. “He worked three jobs to take care of us and I remember my two sisters telling him, ‘We can’t talk to you anymore.’ I saw him breaking down and crying.”
Years later, when it was discovered that Sherri had lost her virginity before marriage, she was put on reproof for six months for committing a “sexual sin.” It ended up leading to her parents' divorce. Sherri, her sisters, and her mother then moved to California, and while they were not active members, they still attended church -- the same one as the Jackson family.
Sherri says she was later “saved at a Black Pentecostal church” and left the Jehovah’s Witness faith.
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View StoryPatti Smith
Patti Smith’s family were practicing Jehovah’s Witnesses, but she decided to leave the religion when she was a young teenager. Although she decided not to practice the faith, her sister continued to do so -- and they are still close despite their religious differences.
“I left organized religion at 12 or 13, because I was brought up a Jehovah’s Witness. I have a very strong biblical background. I studied the bible quite a bit when I was young and continue to study it, independent of any religion, but I still study it,” she told Rolling Stone.
She continued, “My sister is still Jehovah’s Witness. We talk all the time. I like to keep abreast of what she’s doing and what she believes in. I believe there is good in in all religions. But religion, politics and business, all of these things, have been so corrupted and so infused with power that I really don’t have interest in any of it – governments, religion, corporations. But I do have interest in the human condition.”