| Durek Verrett | |
| Birth Name: | Derek David Verrett |
| Birth Date: | November 17, 1974 |
| Birth Place: | Sacramento, California, U.S.[1] |
| Occupation: | Alternative therapist |
| Spouse: | |
| Partner: | Hank Greenberg (2007–2015) |
Durek Verrett (born November 17, 1974, as Derek David Verrett) is an American conspiracy theorist, convicted felon, alternative therapist, and self-professed shaman as a practitioner of Neoshamanism. He has been widely described by media and other observers as a conman and conspiracy theorist.[2]
Verrett dropped out of high school and claims to have been a dancer, model, TV personality, poet, and choreographer. He promotes various Neoshamanic practices rooted in New Age. In his book Spirit Hacking he promotes several pseudoscientific views.[3] He asserts that casual sex attracts subterranean spirits that make an impression on the inside of women's vaginas and offers exercises to "clean out" said vaginas; he writes that children get cancer because they want it; and suggests that chemotherapy does not work and is given to cancer patients only because doctors make money from it. He promotes the Reptilian conspiracy theory, and has said that he considers himself to be a reptilian. He regards 5G technology to be a conspiracy by "those who enslave the planet." He claims that he had knowledge of the September 11 attacks two years before they happened, but chose not to intervene.[4] Verrett has been accused of manipulating his social media following, with critics calling his influencer career a fraud.
Verrett previously lived openly as a gay man, and was in a long-term relationship with his male fiancé Hank Greenberg. Greenberg and others have accused him of domestic abuse, manipulative behavior and of being a cult leader, while his mother Veruschka Urquhart disputed many of his claims about his background and called him "manipulative" and "dangerous." In 2024, Verrett faced allegations of sexual assault from his former representative Joakim Boström. In November 2024 Norwegian media published recordings of Verrett where he admitted to sexual assault and "sucking the cock" of his clients during shamanistic sessions, and claimed that his wife Princess Märtha Louise of Norway knew everything.[5] [6] He had then recently married the princess, a self-described clairvoyant and member of the extended Norwegian royal family.[7] Verrett and Märtha Louise's relationship has been widely criticized by the Norwegian media and public. The Verrett controversies, along with the Marius Borg Høiby affair, have been cited as reasons for a "decimation of the Norwegian royal family's reputation," leading to debate about democratic constitutional reforms to abolish hereditary positions.[8] [9] Verrett remains an American citizen and resident, and is not royal.
Verrett grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area town of Foster City, California, and legally changed his name to Durek Verrett in 2014.[10] [11] Verrett's parents divorced in April 1977 when he was two years old.[12] When Verrett was three, his father married Verrett's stepmother, Geraldine Roy (1943–2009).[13]
In multiple 2019 interviews to publications including Vanity Fair, Verrett claimed he was raised by a wealthy architect father "with a private plane and domestic servants."[14] Several of Verrett's relatives contradict such claims, including his paternal aunt, singer Shirley Verrett, who said Verrett's father was a middle-class contractor who twice went bankrupt, and Verrett's stepmother was a customer service agent for Alaska Airlines.[15] United States census data shows Verrett's childhood neighborhood was considered lower middle class at the time.[16]
Verrett's ancestors were slaves in the New Orleans area at least since the early 19th century, where they continued to live and where Verrett's father was born. In the mid 20th century Verrett's grandparents moved to California with their children. Verrett has claimed that his mother, Sheilah G. Farmer (b. 1943), who goes by the alias Veruschka Urquhart,[17] is of Norwegian-West Indian[18] descent, although he has alternately described her as being of Native American heritage,[19] and he has also claimed "she was white."[20] He has sometimes claimed that his father, David Benjamin Verrett (1929–2017), was of African and Haitian origin, while at other times stating his father was "Native American Blackfoot Indian."[21]
In multiple interviews in 2022 and 2023, Verrett's mother described him as "ingratiating", "manipulative", "dangerous", and "prone to lying", and said she no longer has contact with him.[22] [23] Also Verrett's sister Demi DeLaNuit has warned the public against her brother, and said he has threatened her, their mother and her daughter.[24]
Verrett states that the most important figure in his shaman career is a woman named "Mamal," whom Verrett identifies as his great-grandmother and spirit guide, and who he says "was a powerful medicine woman from Ghana, where she worked in service to her tribe,"[19] and that she "fled Africa in the early 1800s when her tribe was invaded by the Dutch."[25] However, United States census records show that Eugenie "Mamal" Morel was not from Africa; she was born in 1862 in New Orleans, Louisiana,[26] where both of her parents were also born, and she was actually Verrett's great-great-grandmother.[27] [28]
In a 2009 interview, Verrett claimed to be "born into the lineages of Haitian voodoo and indigenous Norwegian medicine".[29] However, his aunt Shirley Verrett's autobiography contradicts his claims, as she describes the Verrett family's strict Catholic and Seventh Day Adventist lineages, and refers to non-Christian practices such as voodoo by stating their family "strongly disapproved of anyone who practiced those negative arts."[30]
On his personal website from 2011 to 2020 he claimed to be a third-generation Shaman.[31] Since 2020, he changed his claim and began describing himself as a sixth-generation shaman. In a 2023 interview, however, Verrett's mother stated that no shaman lineage exists in their family whatsoever, and that Verrett has fabricated such stories in an effort to boost his career.[32]
Verrett dropped out of high school.[33] Verrett has claimed to have been initiated spiritually by an American woman who calls herself "Princess Susana von Radić of Croatia" (who is described by fact-checking site Vantrú as "a fraud who claims to be a princess.")
At age 27, Verrett claims he had a near-death experience which was a pivotal “rite of passage to become a shaman."[34] In 2018, Verrett stated in multiple interviews that his near-death experience happened in Los Angeles, California, where a friend drove him to a local hospital. However, since 2019, Verrett has changed the story, stating that it occurred in a Belize jungle while he was with a medicine woman, and that he was transported to a hospital there via ambulance. In all versions of the story, Verrett claims he underwent emergency tracheotomy (surgical opening of the throat) and sternotomy (surgical opening of the chest).[35] [36]
Media observers have pointed out that Verrett bears no scars on his throat or chest, which are always present after such invasive surgeries. In interviews and his own publications, Verrett has failed to identify any doctors or hospital staff who he claims saved his life, and whom he claims spent months nursing him back to health.[37]
In 2018 and 2019, Verrett claimed that he worked at Shamir Medical Center in Israel for several months during 1998, where he said he treated children for cancer using shamanistic methods. However, in 2019, the hospital's Human Resources department stated that Verrett never worked at the institution.[38]
In 2019, Verrett released a book titled Spirit Hacking which was set to be published in Norway. However, major publisher Cappelen Damm dropped the book a week prior to its scheduled publication over concerns about its content. The book was later released by a small publisher. In the book, Verrett advocates numerous "absurd medical theories."[39] He claims children get cancer because they want it,[40] and suggests that chemotherapy doesn't work and is only given to cancer patients because the doctors make money from it.[41] [42]
He writes that casual sex attracts subterranean spirits that make an impression on the inside of women's vaginas; he also sells exercises to "clean out" said vaginas.[43] Verrett says that he can "turn atoms" and literally reduce age.[44] Cancer experts called Verrett's views on cancer "dangerous." Major newspaper Dagbladet described the book as "the ravings of a lunatic."[45] Verdens Gang called the book "nonsense, garbage and dirty talk," and said it is an unoriginal "rehash of the standard repertoire of the most cynical part of the alternative [i.e. New Age] culture."[46]
Verrett claims to have had a limited career as a model and in appearances on television shows. Although Verrett publicly identified as gay prior to 2019,[47] Vanity Fair wrote about him identifying as bisexual since meeting Norway's Princess Märtha Louise and their activities to promote his brand of new age shamanism in celebrity circles.[48] Verrett claims that his "true mission is to bring the ancient practice of shamanism to the mainstream, helping people to 'get lit' by cultivating love and acceptance of themselves and others."[49] Verrett also claims to be a reincarnated Pharaoh from Egypt.[50]
In 2019, Verrett claimed that he had knowledge of the September 11 attacks two years before they happened, but that he chose not to intervene because he believes that everyone must "accept their destiny."[51] [52] Verrett has also claimed that he has risen from the dead.[53]
In 2021, Verrett stated that he considers himself to be a reptilian, and asserted that, "I'm a hybrid species of reptilian and Andromeda, and I also hold the energies of the ancient spirits from the old world. There have been lies told about our species that I want to address. We are a cluster of beings, that means that we’ve come here to create structures that help people to come into liberation. Reptilians are here to shake up the system in a big way."[54] [55] According to extremism researcher John Færseth, Verrett's ideas about being a reptilian are based on the Reptilian conspiracy theory advocated by British anti-Semite David Icke.[56] [57] Verrett has stated that he considers the 5G technology to be a conspiracy by "those who enslave the planet."
In December 2023, Verrett posted a controversial video on Instagram in which he claimed that demonic beings can inhabit children and torment them. Therefore, he advised parents to speak directly and loudly at troubled, aggressive, and acting-out children, commanding the dark spirits within them to come "into the light." Many observers consider Verrett's parenting advice to be a harmful encouragement of exorcism.[58]
MSN included Verrett as one of "20 famous conspiracy theorists" alongside David Icke and Alex Jones in a 2024 article.[59]
In 1991, Verrett was convicted of felony arson and trespassing and sentenced to five years of imprisonment in California after he illegally organized a party in an unoccupied house that was set on fire and burned to the ground.[60] [61] [62] Verrett has stated that he served one year in prison before being released on parole.[63] [64] [65] [66]
In 1993, after Verrett was released from prison, he was arrested on three separate occasions in Santa Clara and San Mateo, California. He was charged with crimes including trespassing, theft of services, and riding public transportation without paying fares (fare evasion), for which he spent additional time in jail and was fined monetary penalties. Court records show that Verrett couldn't afford legal representation, so a public defender was appointed to represent him.[67] [68] [69] [70]
In 2011, Verrett was accused of harassment, non-payment of rent, and making threats of murder and "black magic" in a lawsuit filed against him by his landlord in Los Angeles.[71] [72]
In 2015, Verrett was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department for domestic abuse after he attacked his then-fiancé Hank Greenberg at their home. Verrett was charged with assault and battery.[73] He later entered into a private agreement with Greenberg to not cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for monetary compensation. After Verrett was released from jail, Greenberg claims that Verrett reneged on their arrangement.
In July 2022, Verrett advertised and sold a medallion that he claimed cures COVID-19. The Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman declared Verrett's undocumented claims to be a violation of Norwegian law.[74] [75] As a result, in 2023, Verrett ceased selling that product and began selling another medallion for over 2,000 Norwegian kroner that he claims can cure dogs of various ailments, which has been criticized by the Norwegian Veterinary Association as not based on science.[76]
In 2005, Verrett entered into a sham marriage with Zaneta Marzalkova, a Los Angeles resident of Czech nationality, when she was 21 years old.[77] In 2008, Marzalkova filed for divorce from Verrett, which was granted by Los Angeles Superior Court. Marzalkova claimed that the marriage was an illegal arrangement by Verrett, whom she paid to help her obtain a United States Green Card.[78] Verrett has claimed that Marzalkova "exploited" him, and that in 2008 he reported her to the immigration authorities as an illegal resident which caused her to be jailed and deported from the country.[79]
From 2007 to 2015, Verrett had a fiancé, a masseur named Hank Greenberg, who was also his business partner. In multiple interviews, Greenberg has described Verrett's true nature as manipulative and dangerous, and stated that Verrett has a "brainwashed" cult of followers where "his word is law."[80] In 2012, Verrett and his then-fiancé Greenberg started an Indiegogo crowdfunding page to raise money for Verrett's kidney transplant in which they stated that Verrett is HIV positive.[81] [82] In 2015, Greenberg broke off their engagement after Verrett assaulted him in their home.[83]
For several years between 2012 and 2017, Verrett lived periodically with his then-manager Tiana Griego, who said, "Durek controlled my whole life. It was as if he became jealous of anything that stole his attention. I was not allowed to start a serious romantic relationship or raise my son. It was all about Durek."[84] [85] [86]
In 2024, Verrett faced allegations of sexual assault from his former representative Joakim Boström. Boström claimed that during a shamanistic session, Verrett engaged in inappropriate behavior, including touching his genital area without consent.[87] [88] Boström said that "Durek is after power and position. That so few see through him is absolutely unbelievable."[89]
In May 2019, Verrett began dating and professionally collaborating with Princess Märtha Louise of Norway. Their relationship has been heavily scrutinized, with many Norwegians voicing their disapproval and calling Verrett a "charlatan."[90] [91] He has been characterized by Norwegian media and other critics as a conman and a conspiracy theorist,[92] [93] [94] [95] [96] [97] [98] and his statements on various topics have been widely criticized and ridiculed in Norway.[99] [100] [101]
The former Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg described Verrett's views as "very strange" and "not based on facts," and said that "the ideas that he promotes are something that we combat as conspiracy theories." Solberg further said the criticism of Verrett is reasonable.[102] State Secretary of the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services, Ole Henrik Krat Bjørkholt, described Verrett as "an unscrupulous and dangerous charlatan" who engages in fraud.[103] [104] In 2023, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre strongly condemned Verrett, calling his statements on child rearing "dangerous."[105]
In 2019, on his podcast "Ancient Wisdom Today," Verrett openly discussed his and his girlfriend's sex life and his techniques for controlling his orgasm to maximize partner satisfaction. He also offered sex advice in a webinar titled "Soul Sexual Webinar."[106] [107] [108] [109] [110]
In 2019, Verrett and Märtha Louise co-organised seminars titled "The Princess and the Shaman," which were widely criticised for the claims made by Verrett about healing cancer and for exploiting Märtha Louise's constitutional role as princess for a private business venture.[111] [112] [113] [114] The newspaper iTromsø noted that Märtha Louise has faced extensive criticism for associating with a conspiracy theorist and over her "commercialization and abuse of the title 'princess'".[115]
In June 2022, Märtha Louise announced that she and Verrett were engaged.[116] Verrett claimed that when he was a child his mother foresaw him marrying a Norwegian princess, however, his mother publicly denied this as a fake story that Verrett created himself.[32]
In 2022, Aftenposten journalist Ingeborg Senneset wrote an open letter to Verrett, in which she addressed his habit of sending her voice messages, such as "Hey, my love" on Instagram and telling her that the "Illuminati" is real and that celebrities and powerful politicians corroborate his claims. Verrett subsequently blocked Senneset when she asked critical questions about his Illuminati claims.[117] [118]
Both Verrett and Märtha Louise have complained about the negative reception of Verrett in Norway,[119] [120] and Verrett claimed he was criticized because "people don't want a black man in the royal family."[121] Verrett said, "I have never experienced so much racism as when I came to Norway." He further said that he is misunderstood, comparing himself to "geniuses [like] Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers and Helen Keller."[122]
His claims of racism have been criticized, with former Norwegian cabinet minister Abid Raja (of Pakistani descent) accusing Verrett of "playing the race card" to distract from the criticism of his conspiracy theories and "dangerous" views. Comedian Jonna Støme, himself of African American descent, said that Verrett's claims undermine the real fight against racism and that people in Norway react negatively to Verrett because "he is a conman who says horrible things."[123] [124]
The political editor of Nettavisen Erik Stephansen criticized Märtha Louise's complaints about the coverage of Verrett and herself, and wrote that she has "actively sought the spotlight with her entire family, exploited the princess title in every conceivable way – including commercially – and is now fully engaged in milking her own glamorous celebrity wedding in Geiranger for all it's worth."[125] Royal historian Trond Norén Isaksen said that "for the sake of the monarchy's integrity and reputation, it is absolutely necessary to sever the formal ties with Princess Märtha Louise" and that it is necessary "to revoke the princess title that Märtha Louise has exploited to its fullest extent. The royal family cannot be for sale."[126]
Verrett has claimed that he will be the first black person to become a part of a European royal family,[127] although Sudanese citizen Mary Nyanut Ring Machar married into the Austrian House of Habsburg in 1999;[128] Angela Brown married into the House of Liechtenstein in 2000; and Meghan Markle married into the British royal family in 2018. In October 2022, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Märtha Louise's brother, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that the matter of Verrett's position in their family is difficult and will take time to solve.[129]
In November 2022, Märtha Louise relinquished her remaining royal duties to focus on her alternative medicine business with Verrett.[130]
In 2023, Verrett claimed that Märtha Louise's late ex-husband, Ari Behn, who died by suicide in 2019, had contacted him from beyond the grave.[131]
Verrett and Märtha Louise married on August 31, 2024.[132] Verrett and Märtha Louise sold the rights to the wedding to Hello! Magazine. Norwegian media described the wedding as "comical" and "embarrassing,"[133] sparking outrage over perceived greed and betrayal of Norwegian traditions and the taxpayers who fund the monarchy. The decision to conceal themselves in a plastic tent and behind a curtain to prevent anyone but tabloid photographers from "Hello!" magazine from capturing images of their wedding was widely criticized as a display of "shame and greed."[134] Norwegian media criticized King Harald V for legitimizing and endorsing the exploitation of national values and symbols for Märtha Louise's and Durek Verrett's personal financial gain.[135] Political scientist Torvald Valland Therkildsen described the royal family as a parody that is a source of embarrassment for Norway.[136]
Märtha Louise's antagonistic relationship with the media, stemming from the criticism over what critics describe as her commercial exploitation of the title "princess," led her to declare a boycott of Norwegian media in 2024.[137]
In August 2024 Verrett said that his relationship with Märtha Louise led to a rift between her and her closest friends. Verrett accused Märtha Louise's close friends of being racists. He said her friends had repeatedly called her and urged her to end the relationship with him.[138] In a subsequent interview that Verrett and Märtha Louise conducted together, Märtha Louise also said she had lost friends and accused them of "racism," echoing Verrett's claims against her former friends.[139]
Verrett and Märtha Louise have been criticized for exploiting her title and role as a member of the extended royal family, deliberately disregarding an agreement not to use the title "Princess" or her connection to the royal family in any commercial activities, interviews, or other public activities.[140] A majority of Norwegians favor the removal of her title.[141] Verrett's sister Demi DeLaNuit criticized Märtha Louise for abusing her title to intimidate DeLaNuit.[24]
Bergens Tidende questioned the claimed celebrity status of Verrett, describing him as "at best a D-list celebrity in Hollywood" and characterized the guest list at his wedding as more akin to an Alternative (New Age) Fair than Hollywood.[142]
Verrett has publicly criticized his family on social media, where he posted a negative comment about his mother and sister, accusing them of financial dependence and creating drama when he withdrew his financial support.[143]
Those who marry princesses are not themselves considered royal, and Märtha Louise's first husband Ari Behn was always considered a private citizen with no title or royal status. The royal family's website only mentioned him as the father of Märtha Louise's children.[144]
In 2024, Norwegian media reported on a covert, year-long reputation management project Verrett and Märtha Louise organized to improve Verrett's reputation ahead of their planned marriage. The couple hired conservative politician and lawyer John Christian Elden as a reputation management consultant in connection with this effort.[145]
In March 2024, Verrett publicly complained that he is described in the media as a "self-professed" shaman and claimed that he was appointed as a shaman by the ghosts of his ancestors. Verrett also requested that his alleged career activities as a dancer, model, TV personality, poet, and choreographer be included in online articles, although he offered no substantiation of such claims.[146]
In April 2024, Märtha Louise objected to public data indicating that Verrett didn't grow up wealthy, and claimed instead that everyone was jealous of his family's wealth. Royal correspondent Tove Taalsen questioned why Märtha Louise places such emphasis on Verrett's alleged wealth as a child, and wrote that it is out of touch with Norway's more egalitarian values.[147]
In 2024 it became known that Verrett had sent letters to his 81-year old mother and his sister threatening legal action against them due to their making public statements he perceived as non-flattering.[148] [149] [150]
On behalf of the princess and her shaman, "reputation manager" Elden complained about the inclusion of quotations from former Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg that appear in the Wikipedia article about Verrett, in which she criticised Verrett for promoting "strange ideas" linked to conspiracy theories. Lawyer and media law expert publicly stated that it is futile to demand the removal of a correct quotation from a public statement by a prime minister,[151] and Norwegian media criticized Verrett and Märtha Louise for attempting to censor a former prime minister's freedom of speech.[152]
The political editor of Nettavisen, Erik Stephansen, wrote that "the revelation of Verrett's repeated attempts to change or remove unfavorable information from Wikipedia" is one of the most striking examples of attempts to hide unfortunate traces from the "con artist shaman's" past life.[125]
Durek Verrett has faced accusations of manipulating his Instagram account in the lead-up to his wedding. Media experts have suggested that the large spikes in followers and likes on Verrett's posts may indicate the purchase of fake engagement. The fluctuations in follower counts and likes deviate significantly from historical patterns, raising concerns about the authenticity of his social media activity.[153] Tove Taalesen wrote that Verrett's career as an "influencer" appears to be "one big fraud."[154]