Better to believe in the Illuminati than a complex world of chance events! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be looking at celebrity deaths that conspiracy theories have pinned on the Bavarian secret society also blamed for the French Revolution (there has to have been SOME nefarious reason that people wanted to overthrow the monarchy, right?!).
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00:00Fortunately, I was probably 15 to 20 feet away from the president when it happened."
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most prominent celebrity deaths
00:08that became the subject of conspiracy theories,
00:11particularly those linked to the infamous secret society the Illuminati.
00:15During those days, Lennon and Ono became familiar figures in their neighborhood.
00:21Prince. In April 2016, the music world was stunned when it was reported that
00:26the artist known as Prince had passed away.
00:28Seismic shockwaves of grief and disbelief
00:31washed over the legendary performer's legion of fans all over the world.
00:36Although his death was officially ruled an accidental overdose,
00:39its suddenness fueled a wave of speculation as people searched for answers.
00:43One of those supposed answers involved a theory that Prince had been killed
00:46by the Illuminati for speaking out about chemtrails in a 2009 interview.
00:50When I was a kid, I used to see these trails in the sky all the time,
00:55and I'd say, oh, that's cool. A jet just went over.
00:59And then you started to see a whole bunch of them.
01:02And the next thing you know, everybody in your neighborhood
01:04was fighting and arguing, and you didn't know why.
01:07For context, chemtrails refer to a conspiracy theory
01:10suggesting that the white vapor trails left by aircraft in the sky,
01:13which consist mostly of water,
01:15are actually dangerous chemicals being sprayed with malicious intent.
01:18Some believe that by promoting this idea,
01:20Prince angered the Illuminati and ultimately paid the price with his life.
01:25Grace Kelly
01:31In just a few years, Grace Kelly ascended to Hollywood's top tier,
01:34winning the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1955.
01:38No one has looked at me as a woman for years and years.
01:43The following year, at the height of her career,
01:45Kelly married Prince Rainier III of Monaco and retired from acting to assume royal duties.
01:50This surprising decision led to theories that the marriage was arranged by the Illuminati
01:54for specific reasons.
01:56According to this theory, once Kelly had given birth to three children,
01:59her purpose was deemed complete.
02:01Hence, she was deliberately killed in a car accident in September 1982.
02:05Princess Grace, Grace Kelly died today at age 52.
02:09The cause, injuries resulting from her car accident yesterday.
02:12In reality, however, Kelly suffered a stroke while driving,
02:15causing her to lose control of the car.
02:17After another stroke at the hospital, she was ultimately taken off life support.
02:22Frank Zappa
02:23Three years after he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer,
02:26legendary musician Frank Zappa passed away in December 1993.
02:30Frank Zappa died this weekend. He was 52 years old.
02:33His death, however, sparked conspiracy theories.
02:36Known for his politically charged music that often criticized the powers that be,
02:40some believe that Zappa ultimately became a target.
02:43And Jesus will think I'm a jerk, just like you.
02:51They point to an incident in December 1971 when Zappa was pushed off stage by a fan
02:56and suffered serious injuries as the Illuminati's first attempt on his life.
03:00When this failed, the secret society then supposedly injected Zappa with prostate cancer,
03:04which went undetected until 1990.
03:07While a ridiculous theory on its own,
03:09Zappa's eclectic personality and sometimes unconventional ideas
03:13earned him just as many detractors as admirers.
03:16And when you pay the bill, kindly leave a little tip.
03:22Jim Morrison
03:23There are many conspiracy theories surrounding the death of The Doors frontman Jim Morrison.
03:27The death of another rock musician was disclosed today.
03:30Jim Morrison, 27 years old, lead singer of The Doors.
03:34After years dealing with substance use disorder,
03:36Morrison had moved to Paris with his girlfriend Pamela Corson in March 1971.
03:41Just four months later, he was found dead by Corson,
03:44and his death was officially attributed to heart failure,
03:46though many suspect an accidental overdose.
03:49However, no autopsy was carried out on Morrison,
03:51which only fueled the conspiracy theories.
03:54I always thought the real testimony to his mystique
03:57was the fact that so many people believed maybe he hadn't really died.
04:01Some believe that Morrison joined the Illuminati,
04:03faked his death with their help, and assumed a new identity.
04:06To support this theory, there have been reported sightings of Morrison,
04:10including one in New York, where he supposedly lives as William Lawyer.
04:14This has been effectively dismissed by Morrison's bandmates.
04:18He's dead. Sorry. I'm sorry.
04:22Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the big bopper J.P. Richardson.
04:26It is now referred to as the day the music died.
04:29Even up to this date, I didn't realize, you know, that he doesn't...
04:36To me, he's not gone.
04:38On February 3, 1959, rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly,
04:42Richie Valens, and the big bopper J.P. Richardson
04:44boarded a small plane in Clear Lake, Iowa, bound for Moorhead, Minnesota.
04:48Just minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed due to bad weather, killing everyone on board.
04:53High winds made the plane's instruments unreliable,
04:57and the young pilot's lack of experience led him to lose control.
05:01But some conspiracy theorists claim there may have been darker forces at work.
05:05They suggest that the Illuminati orchestrated the deaths of all three artists as sacrificial acts
05:10in a bid to curb their rising influence in the music industry.
05:14Nevertheless, the official investigations cite the poor weather conditions
05:17and lack of adequate pilot experience as the primary causes of the crash.
05:21The day the music died.
05:28Abraham Lincoln.
05:30The assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865
05:34significantly altered America's political landscape.
05:37No American president had been killed in office, and the shock of the assassination was profound.
05:44Booth shot Lincoln while he was watching a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.,
05:48and he died the following day.
05:50While the official narrative attributes the assassination to Booth's political motivations,
05:54conspiracy theories suggest a deeper plot involving the Illuminati.
05:58Apparently, Lincoln's efforts to abolish slavery and unify the nation
06:02threatened their control over society.
06:04Hence, the assassination was ordered as part of a broader scheme to destabilize the U.S.
06:09and thwart Lincoln's vision for the country.
06:10These theories are further fueled by Booth's alleged membership
06:14in another secret society called the Knights of the Golden Circle.
06:17They had secret passwords for their meetings.
06:20They had guards at the meetings, and you had to give a password to get through.
06:24Bruce Lee.
06:25Ever since his untimely death in July 1973, Bruce Lee's influence on global culture has
06:30only grown, as have the conspiracy theories surrounding his passing.
06:34But how come that such a powerful man, who many believed was an immortal superhuman,
06:40could have died so early?
06:42While alive, the martial artist and actor was reportedly paranoid about a demon watching him,
06:47a theme echoed in some of his films.
06:49Mr. Roper, don't con me.
06:52Some theorists believe this demon took the form of the Illuminati,
06:56which eventually caught up to him and used him as a sacrifice.
06:59It certainly didn't help that Lee didn't have any illness beforehand and died suddenly due
07:03to an allergic reaction to prescription pills.
07:06These same theories extend to his son Brandon Lee, who also died prematurely in a tragic
07:11prop gun accident, as some believe he, too, was targeted by the Illuminati.
07:15If I had a child, and then for some reason I weren't around to take care of my child,
07:22I would want whatever I had accomplished with my life to be of a benefit to him.
07:28Tupac Shakur.
07:29The death of Tupac Shakur in September 1996 remains one of hip-hop's greatest mysteries.
07:34The shots were fired from a Cadillac that drove up alongside Knight's BMW,
07:38but police still have no leads on a suspect or motive.
07:41Following a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas,
07:43Shakur, who was known for his outspoken lyrics, died six days later.
07:47Although police attributed the murder to gang violence,
07:50conspiracy theories quickly surfaced, some suggesting a link to the Illuminati.
07:54Machiavellian is Illuminati, all through your body, the blows like a 12-gauge shotty.
08:01Allegedly, Shakur, quote,
08:03"...sold his soul to the secret organization, and when he began criticizing powerful elites,
08:07they orchestrated his death to silence him."
08:10The son of Suge Knight, who was driving the car on the night of Shakur's murder,
08:14also claimed that the Illuminati staged the rapper's death and relocated him to Malaysia.
08:18Suge Jr. has been posting images of Tupac posing with celebs,
08:22saying that the rapper lives in Malaysia now and the Illuminati knows all about it.
08:27Even after a man was arrested for the shooting in 2023, these theories still endure.
08:33Bob Marley
08:34Through his music, Bob Marley promoted love and unity throughout the world.
08:37["One Love"]
08:42There are some who believe that these themes,
08:45which are seemingly antithetical to the Illuminati's agenda,
08:48resulted in Marley's untimely death.
08:50Officially, the reggae icon died in May 1981,
08:53four years after he was diagnosed with a type of malignant melanoma,
08:57under the nail of his right big toe.
08:59He had cancer all over his body. Lungs, brain, all over the place.
09:04Conspiracy theorists suggest this cancer didn't just develop normally.
09:08Instead, they allege that it had been induced deliberately by injecting Marley
09:12with a chemical substance through a shoe.
09:14This cancer then spread throughout his body and ultimately killed him.
09:17Singer Bob Marley, his reggae music known far beyond its roots in Jamaica.
09:22These theories have since been debunked,
09:24but that hasn't stopped them from circulating widely.
09:27Elvis Presley
09:28The king of rock and roll died on August 16, 1977,
09:32leaving behind millions of devastated fans and a long-lasting legacy.
09:36He had been found in his bathroom, unconscious, not breathing.
09:40Was brought to the hospital by ambulance.
09:42Elvis Presley's death was sudden,
09:44which led many to speculate there was foul play involved.
09:47In his final years, Presley's health had declined significantly,
09:50making him a shadow of his once vibrant self.
09:53He was his own worst enemy, there's no other way to say it.
09:55Some conspiracy theorists believe this was deliberate,
09:58as the Illuminati had drugged him to keep him out of touch and cause weight gain.
10:02Others allege that Presley had been an FBI informant,
10:05and following the death of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover,
10:08he was silenced to protect sensitive information.
10:11In reality though, Presley died due to cardiac arrest,
10:14likely brought on by his long-term drug use.
10:16I fell back asleep, and then I remember Elvis was getting up,
10:19and I said, what's the matter?
10:20And he said he was going to go in the bathroom and read.
10:22And the last thing I said to him, I said, don't fall asleep.
10:24And he said, oh I won't, and he walked into the bathroom.
10:27And that's the last time I saw Elvis.
10:29Kurt Cobain
10:30The death of Nirvana's frontman is mired in conspiracy theories.
10:34Kurt Cobain took his own life when he was 27 years old.
10:37And then this morning, his body found at home, another casualty of success.
10:41However, many have been accused of killing the historic artist
10:44and framing his death as an act of self-harm.
10:47In fact, journalists Ian Halperin and Max Wallace
10:50wrote a best-selling book called Who Killed Kurt Cobain,
10:52in which they posit that Cobain's wife, Courtney Love, was involved.
10:56But the theories go even deeper,
10:58and some of the most outrageous mention the Illuminati.
11:01Many others believe the lower four lines are completely different handwriting.
11:05What, so they were added by someone else, possibly Courtney?
11:08Is that the suggestion?
11:10Yeah.
11:11According to these,
11:12Cobain was assassinated by the Secret Society,
11:15as he had supposedly exposed their machinations on the Nirvana album In Utero.
11:26Billie Eilish and XXXTentacion had a lot in common.
11:29They both emerged as artists in the 2010s.
11:32They both enjoyed popularity with Gen Z listeners.
11:35They both sang about difficult themes related to depression and anxiety.
11:42And, according to one ridiculous theory,
11:44Eilish was responsible for XXXTentacion's passing.
11:4820-year-old XXXTentacion killed in an apparent robbery.
11:52The theory posits that she wanted into the Illuminati,
11:55and was ordered to take him out as an act of recruitment.
11:58This, in turn, would have supposedly informed the lyrics in Eilish's Bury a Friend.
12:03The singer, for her part,
12:05has seemingly laughed off conspiracies linking her to the supposed Secret Society.
12:12Jimi Hendrix
12:13Jimi Hendrix died of asphyxiation from vomiting
12:16while under the influence of substances on September 18th, 1970.
12:20Nearly half a century later, his death is still shrouded in mystery.
12:24German figure skater Monica Deniman spent time with Hendrix during his final day,
12:28and she revealed that he had taken multiple prescription sleeping pills.
12:32Of course, conspiracy theorists came up with other ideas,
12:35claiming that Hendrix was killed by the American government,
12:37who are supposedly in cahoots with the Illuminati.
12:40You can pour liquid straight into the lungs, and it drowns the person.
12:48And this is how they killed Jimi Hendrix.
12:51Hendrix's brother Leon reportedly mentioned him being under surveillance,
12:55likely due to his association with Black Power organizations,
12:58which some believe lends plausibility to this theory.
13:01It's discussed in the book Wild Thing,
13:03the short, spellbinding life of Jimi Hendrix,
13:06written by biographer Philip Norman, but of course, has not been proven.
13:10London's Metropolitan Police had investigated Jimi Hendrix's death,
13:14but never charged anyone with a crime.
13:16Princess Diana
13:17A short while ago, Buckingham Palace confirmed the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
13:22The violent passing of Princess Diana shocked the world,
13:25and roughly two and a half billion people watched her funeral.
13:29So much public interest was bound to result in a conspiracy theory or two.
13:33Many have been blamed for Princess Diana's death, from MI6 to the Illuminati.
13:37Those who subscribe to the Illuminati conspiracy theory
13:40believe the organization somehow has ties to all major world leaders
13:44and prominent public figures, and that includes the royal family.
13:48Believers think Diana was assassinated by them
13:50due to her public divorce from then-Prince Charles.
13:53The letter alleged that a fellow special ops soldier told his wife
13:58their unit orchestrated the princess's death and cover-up.
14:02Police investigated many conspiracy theories, but found them to be baseless.
14:06Most of the blame now lies on the paparazzi and the car's driver.
14:10You believe there was a conspiracy to kill Dodie?
14:14They've been murdered.
14:15Marilyn Monroe
14:17The epitome of the blonde bombshell,
14:19Marilyn Monroe saw extraordinary success throughout the 40s and 50s.
14:23However, she faced intense personal problems
14:25and passed away at age 36 under somewhat unknown circumstances.
14:29Marilyn Monroe was found dead in bed,
14:32under circumstances that were in tragic contrast to her glamorous career
14:36as a comic talent.
14:37Monroe was found deceased on the morning of August 5th, 1962.
14:41The deputy coroner ruled that her passing was from having taken too many substances,
14:45likely intentionally.
14:47In death, Monroe still captivates us as she did in life.
14:51But some people aren't convinced.
14:53Norman Mailer famously believed that the American government was responsible,
14:57as he expressed in his controversial book, Marilyn, a biography.
15:01Wild theories of this nature have only proliferated throughout the years
15:05and have come to include the Mafia and, of course, the Illuminati.
15:08This lack of concrete evidence helps breed speculation of conspiracy and murder.
15:16Whitney Houston
15:17One of the most legendary singers in history,
15:20Whitney Houston died at the age of 48 on February 11th, 2012.
15:24So far, police and the coroner are refusing to offer details
15:27about what may have caused her tragic death.
15:30Houston was found at the Beverly Hilton that afternoon,
15:32and her passing was later ruled an accident.
15:35She was suffering from heart disease at the time,
15:37and drowned while under the effects of illicit substances.
15:40Houston's mother, Sissy, reportedly spoke to her daughter
15:43and said nothing was out of the ordinary.
15:45One crazy conspiracy claims that the Illuminati was responsible
15:49for these substances being in her system in the first place.
15:52Proponents of the theory allege that this was a way to ensure
15:55the survival of Beyonce and Jay-Z's daughter, Blue Ivy Carter.
15:59Honestly, this one's so out there, we can't even make sense of it.
16:02Whitney Houston, simply put, had the greatest voice in the world.
16:09She was a gift from God.
16:11John Lennon
16:12The first Beatle to die.
16:13John Lennon was killed on December 8th, 1980.
16:16Former Beatle John Lennon is dead.
16:18He was shot a short time ago outside his Manhattan apartment building.
16:22The perpetrator was a man named Mark David Chapman.
16:25Chapman's motives were reportedly many,
16:27as he had long resented Lennon for his personality,
16:30way of living, and controversial statements.
16:32He wasn't the only person that Lennon had irritated,
16:35with the singer being targeted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service
16:39and the FBI a few years prior.
16:40They're after us because we talk about peace.
16:44According to the conspiracy theorists,
16:46these powers were tied to the Illuminati,
16:48who allegedly manipulated or controlled Chapman into doing their bidding.
16:52Chapman entered a guilty plea and, as of 2023, is still in prison.
16:57What do you make of all the conspiracy theories
16:59that have come up in the last 12 years?
17:01CIA, mind control, etc.
17:04Against the death of John Lennon?
17:06Yeah.
17:07Hogwash.
17:08Martin Luther King Jr.
17:10The world came to a standstill on April 4th, 1968,
17:13when Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee.
17:16Dr. Martin Luther King,
17:18the apostle of nonviolence in the civil rights movement,
17:21has been shot to death in Memphis, Tennessee.
17:24Perhaps the most famous civil rights activist of the 20th century,
17:28King Jr. was a major public figure and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
17:32His actions and influence made him a target of racists and the FBI,
17:36and the organization spied on the civil rights leader for years.
17:39If the FBI believed in early 1965 that their threat would intimidate Dr. King,
17:46they would soon find that they were mistaken.
17:49Given all this,
17:50his assassination has become the subject of numerous conspiracies,
17:53with even more insane theories involving the Illuminati.
17:56These stipulate that the society had him killed due to his condemnation of the Vietnam War,
18:01as many powerful people had financial ties to the conflict.
18:05What do you think happened?
18:09The government was very involved.
18:10John F. Kennedy
18:12Speaking of assassinations,
18:13perhaps none is as notable as John F. Kennedy's.
18:17President Kennedy and Governor John Connally have been cut down by assassin's bullets
18:20in downtown Dallas.
18:22President Kennedy was murdered by a former Marine named Lee Harvey Oswald,
18:25who was acting on his own volition.
18:27However, Oswald insisted that he was a scapegoat before later being charged with Kennedy's death,
18:33but Oswald was killed just two days after his arrest.
18:36To this day, a large portion of Americans believe there is more to this story,
18:40and that a cover-up or conspiracy of some sort is at play.
18:43There are lots of theories.
18:45It was Castro, the mafia, the Soviets, the CIA, you name it.
18:51And yes, for some, that conspiracy includes the Illuminati.
18:54These theorists say that Kennedy was planning on exposing the Illuminati and their schemes,
18:59so he had to go.
19:00Other dead-end theories over the years include,
19:02this Secret Service agent with a rifle in the motorcade slipped and shot the president,
19:07or that a gunman fired from the curb-level storm drain.
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19:27Michael Jackson
19:28The world lost Jackson on June 25, 2009.
19:32He had too much of a powerful anesthetic and other substances in his system,
19:35and suffered a cardiac arrest.
19:37Both the Los Angeles Times and CBS News are both now reporting that Michael Jackson has died.
19:45Blame was placed on his personal physician, Conrad Murray,
19:48who administered the medications to assist Jackson in combating his insomnia.
19:52Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter,
19:54and received a four-year prison sentence.
19:57Dr. Murray fled the hospital before we arrived,
20:02waited a couple days to get his story straight,
20:04and ultimately was prosecuted for his conduct.
20:11But Jackson was paranoid in the period leading up to his death.
20:14He allegedly wrote in his diary that quote,
20:17the system wanted to quote,
20:18kill him for his music catalog.
20:21Therefore, some fans and conspiracy theorists took that to mean that he was
20:25taken out by the Illuminati for business reasons.
20:28Should have been a second degree murder.
20:29Yeah, I think it could have been.
20:31Do you believe any of these conspiracy theories?
20:34Share your rationale in the comments below.
20:36I think there's a lot of people like myself whose attitude is just,
20:39damn it, I want to know.
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