02/18/2026
Discernment is important, and even more, not putting teachers on a pedestal. During these times of heaviness it is imperative that you take care of your heart and spirit, and each other.
LINK: https://lissarankinmd.substack.com/p/blowing-the-whistle-on-deepak-chopra
Blowing The Whistle On Deepak Chopra, The Epstein Files, Cancel Culture, & Holding My Influencer Peers (& Myself) Accountable: In Which I Reveal What I Know (& Wish I Didn't) About Deepak, Louise Hay, Joe Dispenza, Gabby Bernstein, Wayne Dyer, Christiane Northrup & Way Too Many Others
The Epstein Files are all over the news, and as someone in the wellness space who has shared many stages and green rooms with Deepak Chopra, I’m getting a lot of confused messages from concerned clients and readers of my work. I posted about Deepak Chopra and longevity “physician” Peter Attia on Facebook (Read it here.) Over 300 comments reveal the depth of the disillusionment many people in the wellness and spirituality space are feeling.
If you’re not sure what I’m talking about and you’ve been a Deepak Chopra fan, read this summary of what’s in the Epstein files by fellow Substacker and disappointed Chopra fan Dr. Scott Mills The Silence: Inside The Chopra-Epstein Files. He painstakingly read the files directly and summarizes what’s in there about Deepak Chopra. He did this hoping the disturbing messages we’re reading about Deepak Chopra’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein were taken out of context, exaggerated for click bait, or otherwise excusable. Instead, he found that, in context, they were even more disturbing.
I especially appreciate how Dr. Mills points out how silent the biggest names in our industry have been-Tony Robbins, Mel Robbins, Brené Brown, Jay Shetty, Gabby Bernstein, Tim Ferriss, Jen Sincero, Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson, Joe Dispenza, Rachel Hollis, Brendon Burchard, Lewis Howes, Marie Forleo, Vishen Lakhiani, Robin Sharma, Mark Hyman, Elizabeth Gilbert, Danielle LaPorte, Oprah Winfrey. “Twenty-one names. Over 250 million followers combined. The DOJ files have been public since January 30, 2026. Not one of these people has said a word.”
Now it’s been 5 days since he posted that essay, so maybe some of these people have spoken up. Admittedly, it took me a minute to catch up on the news myself- and to post something publicly to acknowledge the news on Facebook here and here.
Why do I keep speaking out? I am inspired every day by people like the ACLU lawyers, who wake up every day and go to dingy offices with little pay, so they can do the right thing at any personal cost. (Watch the 2020 documentary The Fight if you want to find the nerve to do more hard things.)
Why is it that so many people in our spirituality and wellness industry stay silent when harm is done by those in our own industry? Because it costs us something- a lot- to not be silent. I know. I’ve experienced it. Is it because we’re so trauma-informed we don’t want to point fingers at people who enable perpetrators, because we have compassion for why they do the things they do? Because it’s not zen to call people out or blame anyone for wrongdoing? Because we’re benefitting from making alliances that make us money with people who are causing harm? Because we’re so conflict avoidant that we don’t want to rock the boat, p**s anyone off, be perceived as a trouble-maker, or lose followers (and therefore money)?
The reasons are understandable, but they don’t excuse the silence. Dr. Mills is right; silence is complicity. Silence is violence. Silence enables the perpetrators and betrays victims. And that is why I can’t stay silent about some thing I haven’t said publicly yet.
It is exhausting to admit that I am never surprised when I find out people like Deepak Chopra have unsavory sides. I’ve co-taught with Deepak at the Chopra Center, at a Mind Body Green event, at the Science & Non-Duality conference, and let’s just say I wasn’t impressed by him as a person. While there are many geniuses in my industry, and while I admire the work of many of them, far too many of them are not kind, loving, honest, or trustworthy people of integrity. But that’s not a rare thing.
As someone who has written ten books, I have shared green rooms and off-the-record conversations with people who are household names. I have given four TEDx talks that have gotten over 6 million views. I’ve starred in two PBS specials. I’ve spoken on hundreds of stages around the world and taught workshops at some of the most prestigious wellness centers. That means I’ve had dinners in private dining rooms reserved for “stars,” and I’ve seen the real side of people in green rooms. And I’ve been privileged to be invited into some of the most sacred circles of the wellness and spirituality world.
While that might sound impressive, it’s come at a huge cost to my nervous system. For over a decade now, I have been carrying secret stories inside about people I’ve shared stages with, people like Deepak Chopra and so many others. But those secrets are corrosive and poisonous and have resulted in tens of thousands of dollars of therapy on my bystander trauma.
I’ve largely avoided naming names, because it’s so scary to do so. I don’t want to hurt anyone, deal with lawsuits, or shatter someone’s guru projections about someone who’s actually helped them. I don’t want to be the one to tell someone there’s no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny- because it’s so lovely for our child-like parts to have role models we can pedestalize, even if that very dynamic makes us vulnerable to being harmed by the people we put in “one up” guru roles.
Some of the time, I wasn’t the actual victim of people like this- or there wasn’t an actual crime, just a shocking breach of integrity. But in light of the Epstein files, I’m going to risk sharing briefly some of what I carry inside, as an industry insider. Please know that my intention for sharing is to not to hurt any individual or to upset you, dear reader, but to call my industry forward- into greater integrity, and to warn those who consume what we create, so you can take good care of yourself and those you love.
Blowing The Whistle
The stories I could tell from inhabiting these influencer spaces for the past fifteen years…I’ve told some of them, off the record, to investigative journalists, trying to find absolution. I’ve gossiped about them with other insiders who are equally shocked. I’ve brainstormed about what to do about it with people like Lisa Braun Dubbels, the Conspirituality podcast guys, Rebekah Borucki, and others.
I’m tempted to put a pay wall here, just to have a little bit of protection, but I don’t want to make money off blowing this whistle. So here you go, dear readers. I’m sorry I I kept these secrets as long as I did.
The stories I could tell…
-About holding space for a young Hay House author in his twenties who came to me at a Hay House event, in tears, because he saw Louise Hay as a grandmother figure, but when she came onto him sexually and he refused her, she threatened to destroy his writing career forever and make sure he amounted to nothing if he ever told anyone. This was before the movement blew up in October 2017 with the Harvey Weinstein case. By the time this young man might have felt empowered to tell his own story about his publisher, Louise had died two months earlier. I asked him to report what had happened. But to who, he wondered?
-About finding out that my partner Jeffrey Rediger, who was pressured by Oprah, against his will, into coming on the Oprah Winfrey Show to talk about John of God, had warned Oprah that he believed John of God was a sexual predator- and while they tried to do due diligence to find out if it was true, ultimately, Jeff felt overridden, silenced, and not believed when voicing his concerns…and very little warning was given during the two Oprah Winfrey Shows, to caution people who trusted Oprah.
(To read the rest of the naming names stories, continue via the link I'll post in the comments to my Substack article.)
