Famous Active & Former Jehovah's Witnesses

A look at the list of famous Jehovah's Witnesses shows that a Witness upbringing does little to prevent a person engaging in illegal or immoral behaviour. The long term effect of an unreasonably strict upbringing where all manner of boundaries are dictated and unrealistic teachings of never growing old and dieing is not necessarily better than one that is lenient, it could even be worse.

It is interesting to note that active Witnesses such as the Williams sisters and Prince (and Michael Jackson prior to disassociating himself) have a blind eye turned to behaviour that most Witnesses would be either marked or disfellowshippped for. Does the Watchtower Society teach truth? Will the world end soon with the destruction of any person that is not a Jehovah's Witness. To understand if Jehovah’s Witnesses are the only religion teaching truth go to jwfacts.com.

Please note, the active/inactive status is likely to change over time so may not be accurate at the time of viewing.

Naomi Campbell - Inactive - Model Naomi Campbell was raised a Jehovah's Witness. She has made a name as one of the few supermodels but is equally well known for beging violent and difficult, with a string of assault charges, a Playboy spread and a history of drug addiction.
JaRule - Inactive - Musician "My mom had friends from work; they would hang out with her girlfriends and co-workers and they would have drinks and stuff, you know regular stuff, you know what people do, normal stuff. And she got caught doing that stuff and then they disfellowship you. My mom, she was kind of tired of living like a double life, because she felt these things she was doing weren’t wrong like in regular society. She says she called them and she told them, and they disfellowshiped her. Now when you get disfellowshiped, nobody is allowed to talk to you--not even your family. My mom, she was real hurt by that. That’s how I kind of got like a cold feeling towards the religion and religions in general. Because I said I don’t think that is something God would want. I don’t think God would want to separate families. ...But when I got older, I start hearing lots of this about Jehovah's Witness, the people I used to go to the Hall with. Such and such son just went to jail, she was selling drugs and not this regular-family s--t going on. You know, regular human problems, brother such and such hit his wife and he’s getting demoted from being an elder now. I’m seeing all these things happening in the Christian churches too. So now I’m looking at it as, you know, it's not just the Christian religion. The Jehovah's Witness used to make it seem that all the outside religion is f---ed up and they’re the best religion. But it's not everyone else, it's you too. I mean, everybody has their problems, because we are all human." http://www.beliefnet.com/story/45/story_4551_2.html (Oct 25 2007)
Peter Andre - Inactive - Musician "It contains revelations about life before Katie and growing up in Australia in a family with devout Jehovah's Witness values. Pete reflects on life married to Britain's hottest celebrity, what life is like caring for her sick child, and how they celebrated the arrival of their first son together, Junior." Review from All About Us: My Story by Peter Andre (http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-About-Us-My-Story/dp/1844543021 Oct 25 2007) The question is asked about Peter Andre in the May 2005 Cleo (Australia) “Jordan & Peter: Is this the world’s trashiest couple?”
Krazyzie Bone - Inactive - Musician Rap artist from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, real name Anthony Henderson. "One of five, Krayzie was raised by his hard-working, struggling parents in the ghetto. They were devout Jehovah's Witnesses. He credits his musicality to his father, a steel worker, who would sing at home. Needless to say, despite the efforts of his parents to instil him with a sense of righteousness, Krayzie fell prey to the thuggish ruggish streets. He wound up in gaol for two years after inadvertently shooting his homeboy, Wish Bone, in the leg. It was during this spell that Krayzie developed the distinctive Bone rap delivery, which proved a hit with his inmates. When Krayzie came out, he created the group Bone Enterprise (later Bone Thugs-N-Harmony) with Wish and three other homeboys, Bizzy Bone, Layzie Bone and Flesh-N-Bone. Together they set about turning their lives around -- using hip-hop as a means of empowerment."(http://www.sevenmag.com/savvy/body990711.html Oct 29 2007)
Prince - Active - Musician Prince and his now ex-wife converted shortly after the death of their child.
Michelle Rodriguez - Inactive Actress recently arrested for "Driving Under the Influence".
Michael Jackson & Family - Mostly Inactive - Musicians Jackson Five, Michael, Janet and LaToya Jackson. Katherine Jackson (mother) and Rebbie Jackson (sister) are reportedly still active. Michael Jackson has ongoing legal trouble in regards to paedophilia. "Sundays were my day for "Pioneering," the term used for the missionary work that Jehovah’s Witnesses do. We would spend the day in the suburbs of Southern California, going door to door or making the rounds of a shopping mall, distributing our Watchtower magazine. I continued my pioneering work for years and years after my career had been launched." (http://www.beliefnet.com/story/56/story_5697_2.html Oct 26 2007)

Nemesis Rising - Jacob and Joshua - Inactive "Pop duo Nemesis Rising normally get noticed because of the way they look – and hey, even I had my head turned by these identical twins. Gay twins are a bit of a fascination for some people it seems. They certainly got a lot of attention when cameras from Logo TV followed them around for a reality series called Jacob and Joshua: Nemesis Rising. Jacob (blond) and Joshua (dark) showed off their gay life in LA, but also took an emotional trip home to Montana to come out to their Jehovah's Witness family. They were excommunicated for opening up about their sexuality, but remain close to their parents and siblings." (http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/opinion/2005-4947.html Oct 26 2007)
Hank Marvin - Active - Musician Part of the Shadows and friends with Cliff Richard. "Marvin moved to Australia and became a Jehovah's Witness in 1973, but later joined a re-formed Shadows. The group resumed recording, and hit the Top Ten in 1978-79 with "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "Theme from 'The Deerhunter'."" http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Hank%20Marvin:1927015414:page=biography (Oct 25 2007)
Valerie Campbell - Active - model Mother of Naomi Campbell
George Benson - Active - musician Benson is reportedly an elder. In the 1990’s I waitered on him at the Australian Bethel, He arrived in a limousine with his body guard and was seated at the head table.
Venus and Serena Williams - Active - tennis The Williams sisters dominated womens tennis, but became renowned for their tempers and immodest clothing on and off court. "Raised as devout Jehovah’s Witnesses, both were home-schooled by their mother, and have received their high school diplomas. (http://www.williamssisters.org/sbio.html Oct 29 2007) "The fact that Venus (and her sister Serena) are both active Jehovah's Witnesses participating in the Olympics has provoked an interesting reaction from the organization. None at all. So while many Witnesses cheer for Venus, they know deep in their hearts that they would be subject to judicial procedures for much lesser offenses. And when Venus stood on the podium to receive the gold medal to the tune of the American national anthem, she became a different kind of pioneer than to which we are accustomed." (http://www.freeminds.org/african/williams.htm Oct 30 2007)
Dwight Eisenhower - Inactive - Politician 34th President of the United States (1953-1961) "In fact, Dwight D. Eisenhower was raised a Jehovah's Witness, a sect commonly called Russellites or Bible Students until 1931. His mother was active in the sect from 1895, when Dwight was five years old, until she died. Eisenhower's father was also an active member, although after 1915 he eventually no longer considered himself a Witness. All of the Eisenhower boys left the Jehovah's Witness religion when adults and openly opposed major aspects of Watchtower teaching, although some of the values they learned from their Bible studies probably influenced them throughout their lives."
Hinano Yoshkawa - Inactive - Model Japanese model and actress. At 19 she married cross-dresser Izam on February 24, 1999 and then divorced on September 29, 1999.
Gloria Naylor - Inactive - Author "Also in the same year, Naylor's mother joined the Jehovah's Witnesses and in 1968 Naylor followed in her footsteps. The Jehovah's Witnesses brought her out of her shyness and gave her a cause, community and opportunity for travel. They encouraged her already active imagination and believed in the power of the written word, which would have obvious importance to Naylor in the future. Unfortunately the Jehovah's Witnesses also isolated her from her own culture. There was an incredible explosion of black literature at the time and Naylor didn't even realize it. She witnessed for seven years, supporting herself as a switchboard operator, but eventually left the Jehovah's Witnesses because "things weren't getting better, but worse."" (http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/naylor_gloria.html Oct 25 2007)
Wayan Brothers and Sisters - Mostly Inactive - Actors Damon, Dwayne, Keenen, Ivory, Kim, Nadia, Marlon, Shawn. “My father is a Jehovah's Witness, and he raised us under a very strict hand. He believed that if he did not spare the rod, he would raise functional, obedient children. He failed to realize that he didn't need to beat [us] all of the time; he needed to talk to us, to try to understand us. I think that he learned [to do that] towards the end of his career as a father. [When I was young], he didn't know there was any different way of being. He's two generations away from being a slave; [when he was growing up] he got beat, so he passed it on. The good thing is I don't [beat] my children, and none of my brothers and sisters do to theirs. We've broken the chain.”
Dave Mustaine of the band Megadeth - Inactive - Musician Mustaine is considered one of the pioneers of Thrash Metal. He converted to being a Born Again Christian in 2002. An interview at he states: JBS: As far as your family is concerned, by choosing that name, weren't you adding insult to injury for Jehovah's Witnesses? DM: It did in a sense, but we've already got a distance between us. Regardless of what I did with my career, I don't think my problems with my family would have been resolved. I did what I did because I wanted to do it. I didn't have any inhibitions or any kind of feelings toward what they thought. (http://megadeth.rockmetal.art.pl/interviews_hitparader1987.html Oct. 2006)
Lord Jamar of the band Nubians - Inactive - Musician
XZibit - Inactive - Musician "My parents were Jehovah's Witnesses and they didn't particularly care for rap music," says Joiner, who is known as Xzibit. "I would get my little headphones and sneak and listen to it at night. Every time they would catch me, they would get it and break my tapes. And I'd be mad. Eventually, I got sick of it. So I said, 'You know what? I can rap my own stuff and they can never take that from me.'" http://www.jess3.com/archive/2002_09_06_archiveblogger.html

Larry Graham - Active - Musician - Sly & the Family Stone "He is widely heralded as the Master of Bass, a founding father of funk, Mr. Thunderlicks. His thumb, quips the Artist Formerly Known as Prince, should be insured. His voice, gut-low and as smooth as his snaky bass lines, is like Barry White's on a fitness plan, promising danger and excitement. He is Larry Graham: veteran of Sly & the Family Stone, Woodstock survivor, chief engineer of Graham Central Station, devout Jehovah's Witness and the hipster Obi-Wan of the Artist's New Power Generation." (http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/larrygraham/articles/ story/5920205/bass_legend_graham_lays_down_the_millennial_funk Nov 1 2007)

Geri Halliwell - Inactive - Musician - Spice Girls "Mother became a Jehovah's Witness when Geri was very young, which meant Geri didn't get to celebrate birthdays or Christmas." (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001312/bio Nov 1 2007)

Lark Voorhies - Active - Actress Stared in Saved By The Bell, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, In the House, "Head and Shoulders" shampoo commercials, and several music videos such as Kenny Lattimore's "Never Too Busy", Dru Hill's "These Are The Times" and Boys II Men's "On Bended Knee." She is the niece of Jermaine Jackson. Lark married Miguel Coleman but divorced in 2004. "Voorhies, a Jehovah's Witness, reportedly quit Days of Our Lives, because she believed a sex scene violated her religious principles." (http://www.filmspot.com/people/15680/lark-voorhies/trivia.html Nov 2 2007)