Hoyt Richards was the quintessential “all-American” guy. Tall, tan and blond, Richards was awarded a football scholarship to Princeton before becoming the world’s first male supermodel — jet-setting all over the world to work campaigns for top fashion houses such as Versace, Valentino, Ralph Lauren and Burberry, and posing for the likes of Helmut Newton and Steven Meisel. He was raking in millions of dollars and became the envy of many. Little did any of them know that nearly every dollar the model made was going toward a doomsday cult involving alien UFOs, drug-fueled sexcapades, an illicit gem business and a charismatic leader who claimed to be an E.T. from the star Arcturus.
“Bring Me the Beauties,” a three-part HBO docuseries premiering June 1, captures how Richards was ensnared in the Eternal Values cult and the heavy toll it took on him. The show features interviews with Richards and several other ex-Eternal Values members, as well as a trove of archival footage of Frederick Von Mierers, the mysterious man at its center. It’s an eye-opening tale, and comes from Chris Smith, the veteran documentary filmmaker behind “American Movie,” “Fyre,” “100 Foot Wave” and “Bad Vegan.”
“It took us about five years,” Smith tells Variety. “It took years for us to develop relationships with people in Eternal Values who eventually spoke. There was very little information about the group online, as it was pre-internet.”
