10 Famous People Allegedly Killed By the Illuminati

The death of Nirvana’s frontman is mired in conspiracy theories. Kurt Cobain took his own life when he was 27 years old. However, many have been accused of killing the historic artist and framing his death as an act of self-harm. In fact, journalists Ian Halperin and Max Wallace wrote a bestselling book called “Who Killed Kurt Cobain?,” in which they posit that Cobain’s wife, Courtney Love, was involved. But the theories go even deeper and some of the most outrageous mention the Illuminati. According to these, Cobain was assassinated by the secret society, as he had supposedly exposed their machinations on the Nirvana album “In Utero.”

Billie Eilish and XXXTentacion had a lot in common. They both emerged as artists in the 2010s, they both enjoyed popularity with Gen Z listeners, they both sang about difficult themes related to depression and anxiety. And, according to one ridiculous theory, Eilish was responsible for XXXTentacion’s passing. The theory posits that she wanted into the Illuminati, and was ordered to take him out as an act of recruitment. This in turn would have supposedly informed the lyrics in Eilish’s “Bury a Friend.” The singer, for her part, has seemingly laughed off conspiracies linking her to the supposed secret society.

Jimi Hendrix died of asphyxiation from vomiting while under the influence of substances on September 18, 1970. German figure skater Monika Dannemann spent time with Hendrix during his final day, and she revealed that he had taken multiple prescription sleeping pills. Of course, conspiracy theorists came up with other ideas, claiming that Hendrix was killed by the American government, who are supposedly in cahoots with the Illuminati. Hendrix’s brother Leon reportedly mentioned him being under surveillance, likely due to his association with Black power organizations, which some believe lends plausibility to this theory. It’s discussed in the book “Wild Thing: The Short, Spellbinding Life of Jimi Hendrix,” written by biographer Philip Norman, but - of course - has not been proven.

Princess Diana

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The violent passing of Princess Diana shocked the world, and roughly two and a half billion people watched her funeral. So much public interest was bound to result in a conspiracy theory or two. Many have been blamed for Princess Diana’s death, from MI6 to the Illuminati. Those who subscribe to the Illuminati conspiracy theory believe the organization somehow has ties to all major world leaders and prominent public figures, and that includes the Royal family. Believers think Diana was assassinated by them due to her public divorce from then-Prince Charles. Police investigated many conspiracy theories, but found them to be baseless. Most of the blame now lies on the paparazzi and the car’s driver.

Marilyn Monroe

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The epitome of the “blonde bombshell,” Marilyn Monroe saw extraordinary success throughout the ‘40s and ‘50s. However, she faced intense personal problems and passed away at 36 under somewhat unknown circumstances. Monroe was found deceased on the morning of August 5, 1962. The deputy coroner ruled that her passing was from having taken too many substances, likely intentionally. But some people aren’t convinced. Norman Mailer famously believed that the American government was responsible, as he expressed in his controversial book “Marilyn: A Biography.” Wild theories of this nature have only proliferated throughout the years and have come to include the mafia and, of course, the Illuminati.

One of the most legendary singers in history, Whitney Houston died at the age of 48 on February 11, 2012. Houston was found at The Beverly Hilton that afternoon, and her passing was later ruled an accident. She was suffering from heart disease at the time and drowned while under the effects of illicit substances. One crazy conspiracy claims that the Illuminati was responsible for these substances being in her system in the first place. Proponents of the theory allege that this was a way to ensure the survival of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s daughter Blue Ivy Carter. Honestly, this one’s so out-there, we can’t even make sense of it.

John Lennon

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The first Beatle to die, John Lennon was killed on December 8, 1980. The perpetrator was a man named Mark David Chapman. Chapman’s motives were reportedly many, as he had long resented Lennon for his personality, way of living, and controversial statements. He wasn’t the only person that Lennon had irritated, with the singer being targeted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the FBI a few years prior. According to the conspiracy theorists, these powers were tied to the Illuminati, who allegedly manipulated or controlled Chapman into doing their bidding. Chapman entered a guilty plea and, as of 2023, is still in prison.

The world came to a standstill on April 4, 1968 when Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee. Perhaps the most famous civil rights activist of the 20th century, King Jr. was a major public figure and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. His actions and influence made him a target of racists and the FBI, and the organization spied on the civil rights leader for years. Given all this, his assassination has become the subject of numerous conspiracies, with even more insane theories involving the Illuminati. These stipulate that the society had him killed due to his condemnation of the Vietnam War, as many powerful people had financial ties to the conflict.

John F. Kennedy

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Speaking of assassinations, perhaps none is as notable as John F. Kennedy’s. President Kennedy was murdered by a former Marine named Lee Harvey Oswald, who was acting on his own volition. However, Oswald insisted that he was a scapegoat before later being charged with Kennedy’s death. But he was killed just two days after his arrest. To this day, a large portion of Americans believe that there is more to the story and that a cover-up or conspiracy of some sort is at play. And yes, for some that conspiracy includes the Illuminati. These theorists say that Kennedy was planning on exposing the Illuminati and their schemes, so he had to go.

The world lost Jackson on June 25, 2009. He had too much of a powerful anesthetic and other substances in his system, and suffered a cardiac arrest. Blame was placed on his personal physician, Conrad Murray, who administered the medications to assist Jackson in combating his insomnia. Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and received a four year prison sentence. But Jackson was paranoid in the period leading up to his death. He allegedly wrote in his diary that “the system” wanted to “kill [him] for [his] [music] ­catalogue.” Therefore, some fans and conspiracy theorists took that to mean that he was taken out by the Illuminati for business reasons.