Joe Rogan Experience #2559 - Sam Morril · Aired Sep 29, 2026
Claim summary · not a verbatim quotation
The leader of the cult shown in the documentary Holy Hell moved his group from West Hollywood to Austin because the Cult Awareness Network was investigating him in a crackdown on cults that followed the Waco tragedy.
The finding
What the evidence shows
The basic story is real: the Buddhafield group from the documentary Holy Hell left the Los Angeles area for Austin, where its followers later built what became the One World Theatre. But the timing does not work. The group relocated to Austin in 1992, and the Waco siege happened in 1993, so a crackdown that followed Waco could not have driven the move. The speaker was also unsure when Waco happened.
Read the supporting source · en.wikipedia.org ↗Quick answer & review status
Quick answer
Is it true that the leader of the cult shown in the documentary Holy Hell moved his group from West Hollywood to Austin because the Cult Awareness Network was investigating him in a crackdown on cults that followed the Waco tragedy?
Partly. The claim stretches what the evidence shows. The basic story is real: the Buddhafield group from the documentary Holy Hell left the Los Angeles area for Austin, where its followers later built what became the One World Theatre. But the timing does not work. Joe Rogan said it (matched by voice) on Joe Rogan Experience #2559 - Sam Morril, aired Sep 29, 2026, at 2:11:56. The supporting source is en.wikipedia.org, linked below.
The context belongs here.
No separately verified on-air correction is recorded for this check. That is not a claim that nobody corrected it.
- Attribution
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- Editorial context review
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- Coverage
- One selected claim from the episode
Revisions to this check
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