I’ve always been enthralled by the darker side of the entertainment industry, particularly when it comes to conspiracy theories involving celebrities.
For example, have you heard the one about Avril Lavigne? Rumor has it, after her successful debut album, Lavigne died in a car accident (or by suicide depending on the account) and was replaced with her body double, Melissa Vandella. When I came across this theory, despite seeing a striking resemblance between Avril and Melissa, I didn’t believe it but thought it was a great story, and my writer brain went into overdrive wondering how I could use it in a future novel about showbiz.
It wasn’t until years later, when I really let my imagination run wild—and incorporated a boarding school setting—that I had the roots of what would eventually become my latest book, The Dollhouse Academy. While my story deviates from the one about Avril and the other pop culture conspiracy theories mentioned below, I did find inspiration from some of them. And while most of these are easy to dismiss, I must admit more than one still makes me wonder…
Paul McCartney died and was replaced with a double
Before there was Avril, there was Paul. This classic theory alleges that after McCartney was in a fatal car accident, the remaining members of the Beatles concealed his death by replacing him with a lookalike. What makes the Paul is Dead story endure are the “clues” the band supposedly left in their music to deal with their grief and guilt. This includes a message on one song that sounds like, “Paul is dead, man, miss him, miss him” when the record is played backwards, and the suggestion that John Lennon says, “I buried Paul” in the final section of another song. Additional so-called evidence abounds, but the band ultimately refuted the rumors, and Paul McCartney showed his sense of humor about them by naming a 1993 concert album Paul is Live.
Keanu Reeves is immortal
A newer one for me but boy, do I love it. There’s a website dedicated to this theory that offers “proof” in the form of Reeves’ vague resemblance to Charlemagne and other ancient portraits, and the notion that being so kind “can only be acquired in a long and wise life.” By that logic, shouldn’t Mister Rogers have also been immortal? Just saying.
Elvis Presley faked his death
Another classic. I can trace my interest in pop culture conspiracies back to The Elvis Files, an early ‘90s TV special that purported Presley might still be alive. The show raised many unsettling questions. Why was his name misspelled on his tombstone? Why were there insurance policies cashed in before his death? Why did two different writers have all their books on the subject removed from bookstores by mysterious men in suits? What was Presley’s connection to the FBI? And what about all those multiple sightings of him after his death?
Lina Morgana was the original Lady Gaga
According to legend, back in the mid-2000s, there were two friends and aspiring singers, Lina Morgana and Stefani Germanotta, with a similar look and sound, who worked with the same producer. Initially, this producer envisioned Lina as the star and Stefani as the back-up vocalist, but changed his mind and worked with Stefani to craft her into Lady Gaga. In 2008, a few months after Gaga’s debut album was released, 19-year-old Lina fell to her death from the roof of a Staten Island hotel. Afterwards, Lina’s mother Yana Morgana contended that Gaga stole her daughter’s “fashion style, performance techniques, and dramatic stagecraft.” Since then, there’s been occasional speculation that Gaga was connected to the untimely death to get Lina out of her way or to obtain fame through a Satanic sacrifice. For the record, Gaga was in L.A. when Morgana died, and witnesses saw her jump to her death, so no foul play was involved, though that hasn’t stopped the rumors. (If you want a better story, read Jennifer Banash’s The Rise and Fall of Ava Arcana, a fictional take on this conspiracy theory.)
Courtney Love murdered Kurt Cobain
This rabbit hole (Hole?) goes deep. Unsolved Mysteries covered the case in 1997 and again in 2008. The 2015 documentary Soaked in Bleach features extensive testimony from Tom Grant, a private investigator initially hired by Courtney Love who went on to allege she orchestrated her husband’s murder. Cobain was worth $50 million at when he died in 1994; reportedly, he was about to divorce Love and draw up a will leaving her with nothing. He was fresh out of rehab and by all accounts happier than ever. There were inconsistencies with the crime scene and suicide note (and Love allegedly had a notebook in which she’d practiced forging Cobain’s handwriting). Much of the evidence Grant presented has been disputed over time, but this is one case that still haunts me. Bonus rabbit hole: Kristen Pfaff, former bassist for Love’s band Hole, overdosed two months after Cobain’s passing; rumors claim Courtney was responsible for her death, too, as retaliation for leaving Hole and being too friendly with Kurt. It reminds me of a chilling quote from Soaked in Bleach: “if you want to get away with murder, you kill a junkie.”
Stanley Kubrick helped fake the moon landings
Sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick, contained groundbreaking special effects and was released in 1968, a year before the moon landings. Were the effects so groundbreaking that the filmmaker also used them to fabricate film footage of the moon landings? According to a theory in the documentary Room 237, that is indeed the case, and Kubrick’s 1980 film The Shining contains numerous references to his role in the supposed space hoax.
Marilyn Monroe was murdered
On one hand, the screen legend struggled with mental health and substance abuse issues, and there was an empty bottle of barbiturates found beside her bed, so an intentional or accidental overdose is plausible. On the other hand, she had affairs with Robert and John F. Kennedy, and Norman Mailer’s 1973 biography of Monroe alleged the FBI or CIA orchestrated her murder because the brothers shared state secrets with her. No trace of pills was found in her body, which suggests the barbiturates had to be administrated another way (enema, injection, etc.). Additionally, witnesses claim to have seen men enter Monroe’s home on the night of her death. Mailer did later retract his theory, which has no evidence to support it, but considering the fate of the Kennedys and web of conspiracy surrounding them, it’s possible Marilyn didn’t die by her own hand.
Britney Spears was replaced by a clone
This one’s been floating around for a while but got new life in late 2024 when TV personality Kristin Cavallari stated her wholehearted belief that Britney had been cloned. The original theory claims the pop singer died in a car accident (why is it always a car accident?) just before the release of her 1999 debut album and that her record label commissioned clones of Spears. Allegedly, everything she’s done since has been the work of a clone. And not just one—apparently several have come and gone over the years and there are always a few extra stocked up. I swear I’m not making this up (I mean, somebody is, but it’s not me).
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