DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — His followers called him a god, but behind his charismatic façade was something far from it.
A new docuseries by ABC News Studios, “The Cult of NatureBoy,” is taking an in-depth look at metro Atlanta cult leader NatureBoy, who used social media to recruit followers to join what he described as a real-life utopia.
NatureBoy, whose real name is Eligio Bishop, was sentenced to life without parole in March 2024.
Investigators accused him of leading a cult known as CarbonNation, raping a member when she tried to leave in 2022, and posting revenge porn online after she left.
Our cameras were there in 2022 when officers searched his home and arrested Bishop following a three-week investigation.
In 2016, Bishop began using his social media platforms to preach about an idyllic lifestyle, specifically, “he was kind of preaching an answer to kind of many of the problems that kind of young Americans, specifically young Black Americans, are facing at that point, with a kind of simple message of kind of return to nature, director Benjamin Zand said.
Tall and good-looking, Zand said Bishop was “like the ultimate influencer.”
Former followers described how they believed they were sexually, mentally, and emotionally controlled by Bishop.
“Women couldn’t wear shirts, we had to put leaves on our nipples,” one of the followers told Channel 2 Action News. “Every woman had to have sex with Nature Boy, and a lot of times it would be forced.”
Another victim testified during his trial about when she met Bishop.
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The woman told jurors she met Bishop and what she called “the tribe” when she was a 22-year-old waitress dealing with depression and family issues. She said she previously knew of Bishop due to his social media posts.
She said he created CarbonNation, preaching kindness and self-sustaining communities. She told jurors it was a lifestyle.
“It was about living in tune with self and community and about love and speaking righteously,” said the woman.
“He basically told us the outside world was Babylon. It was going to crash down, and Mother Nature would wipe it out, and the chosen could stay with him. So, we considered ourselves the disciples,” said the woman. “He was the Christ.”
She said Bishop was kind when she began living with the group. “Also, the cult, the tribe, they were also that way,” said the woman. “I believed he was very caring at one point.”
She said Bishop imposed rules for the group. She said there were times men and women were forbidden to converse and told jurors that when Bishop felt disrespected, he would force members to stand in a corner, do squats, or shun them.
Prosecutors said Bishop would not allow members to the restroom inside. They were only allowed to eat when he was hungry, and he would often video sexual encounters with followers and post them online.
“The defendant had his choice of women in the group,” prosecutors said during Bishop’s trial. “It was understood nobody said no to the king.”
The former follower admitted that when she got tired of the rules, Bishop allowed her to leave. She would do that and return multiple times over the years.
However, she told jurors Bishop became more violent. She said the group was living at a home in Arbor Chase in DeKalb County in March of 2022 when she tried to leave.
She said that’s when Bishop raped her.
“I was powerless,” said the woman. She sobbed while describing the encounter in detail to jurors.
She said he told her she was his property and would not go anywhere. She said he posted revenge porn of her online.
Bishop denied all the accusations against him, but a jury felt otherwise.
The newly posted docuseries on Hulu takes a deep dive into the cult and Bishop, and how he manipulated his followers.
“I think his angle was to become. I won’t go as far as to say Jim Jones, but I think that he would have loved to have a community that large. But ultimately, Eligio’s end goal was never based in any type of reality,” investigator Chantelle Coleman said.
“What’s a fascinating aspect of all this is just how much the kind of algorithms of social media play a part in this, and like, kind of, he’s doing more and more wild things to kind of feed this beast, and he kind of feels increasingly untouchable,” Zand said. “It felt like a really important example of how kind of cults have evolved, you know, kind of social media has made a new type of cult.”
“The Cult of NatureBoy” is streaming now on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.