Hulu doc shows how Atlanta’s ‘Natureboy’ used social media to build a cult
Cult leaders often follow a familiar pattern: a promise of Shangri-La with idyllic communal living that morphs into sexual, mental and physical abuse.
Former Atlantan Eligio “Natureboy” Bishop found a modern twist using YouTube, Instagram and the livestreaming platform Bigo Live to attract new followers and showcase his appeal and power. His story is chronicled in Hulu’s disturbing new four-part docuseries “The Cult of Natureboy.”
“Natureboy understood social media,” documentarian Benjamin Zand said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He purposely documented and amped up his abuse to get more views. He did crazier and crazier things online to get more donations and monetize his actions. His members at times felt like they were on some crazy reality show he was producing.”
Zand first began following Bishop’s group in Costa Rica in 2018 for a possible BBC story when “Natureboy” was actively recruiting people to join what he then called Melanation. Bishop painted his group as a utopian way for people to commune with nature, live in tents and grow their own food.
When Zand first reached out to him, Bishop “was extremely inviting. We communicated on WhatsApp. He was honored that the BBC was interested in him,” he said.
But by the time Zand flew to Costa Rica, the country had deported Bishop and his followers back to the United States for overstaying their visas. “I checked out the area they had been staying in, and it was indeed a beautiful place,” Zand said. “I talked to people there. Some saw him as a visionary who knew how to live a pure, healthy life. But others said he was deeply controlling and problematic. Soon, he stopped talking to me and got very paranoid.”
Zand at the time did a piece for the BBC and moved on. “It was a short take but didn’t get to the bottom of the story,” he said.
Over subsequent years, Zand kept hearing wilder stories about Bishop and his group, which at that point was known as Carbon Nation. He began doing fresh research. Some members talked to him because “they had seen my initial documentary. Natureboy used that in the cult to show how important he was and that I was an embodiment of the devil.”
Then in 2022, DeKalb County police arrested Bishop on charges of rape, false imprisonment and transmitting sexually explicit electronic transmissions.
The police based its arrest on information provided by a former member of the cult, Atlantan Jenae A. Newell, who alleged Bishop posted revenge porn of her. (Although the AJC doesn’t normally name rape victims, Newell has been outspoken about what happened to her.)
While Bishop was in prison, he began speaking again to Zand. “He’d give me his spiel,” Zand said. “He’d also ask for huge sums of money to be in the documentary.”
Bishop did not grant Zand an interview for the doc. As a result, he is seen in “The Cult of Natureboy” only through his previous online videos and in the trial.
“We had a weird relationship,” Zand said. “At some points, he was hostile and aggressive. Other times, he tried to be my best friend.”
Zand said this is how Bishop operated with many of his members. “You never knew where you stood with Natureboy,” he said. “He could be endearing and warm and loving. Other times, he could be an absolute monster.”
Hulu and ABC News Studios financed Zand’s documentary, which filmed before, during and after the 2024 trial.
Newell, whose rape accusation helped get Bishop arrested, spoke forcefully during the trial against Bishop. She also told Zand how she joined the cult after meeting Bishop in a coffee shop in Atlanta.
Aaron Dixon, who grew up in Bishop, was also one of the more forceful voices in the documentary after being with Bishop for four years. “It got to the point, you no longer trusted yourself,” Dixon said in the doc. “It’s Cult Leader 101.”
Zand also spoke with people who followed the cult from the outside and tracked Bishop’s increasingly bizarre behavior. Their video evidence was used by prosecutors in 2024 to help persuade a jury to convict Bishop of rape, false imprisonment and charges related to revenge porn.
Bishop was sentenced to life in prison.
“I didn’t want this documentary to just be about Natureboy,” Zand said. “I wanted to humanize the victims and show why people might be drawn to someone like Natureboy and what it was like to be in a cult like this.”
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
