A viral post this summer racked up more than 20 million views in just a couple of days, reigniting speculation about the Daniel Kaluuya cult rumours. The caption was simple: What’s the cult? What happened to Daniel Kaluuya? And is he coming back? It reignited speculation about one of Britain’s most successful actors — a Camden-born performer who went from Skins to an Oscar in little over a decade.
Early breakthrough
Kaluuya’s rise is well documented. Born in 1989 and raised in north London, he started writing and performing young.
At just 18 he was co-writing episodes of Skins while also playing fan-favourite Posh Kenneth.
From theatre acclaim in Sucker Punch, to bit-parts in Kick-Ass 2 and Sicario, his breakthrough came with Black Mirror — specifically the 2011 episode Fifteen Million Merits.
Jordan Peele saw that performance and cast him in Get Out. The film’s global success made him a household name, with an Oscar nomination for Best Actor and a BAFTA Rising Star award soon after.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4474055489327117 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Roles in Black Panther and a sweeping run of awards for Judas and the Black Messiah confirmed him as one of Britain’s defining screen talents.
Then came the speculation. After 2021, instead of chasing Marvel sequels or Hollywood franchises, Kaluuya shifted focus. The Daniel Kaluuya cult rumours began as he co-founded his own production company, 59% Productions, set up to address Black underrepresentation in British media.
He turned to producing and directing, even sacrificing a role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to take the lead in Peele’s Nope. But it was on the set of Nope in 2022 that the cult rumours began.
“Air Holiness” & the Daniel Kaluuya cult rumours
Multiple reports suggested he had parted ways with his agents, publicist, and long-time team under the influence of a new personal adviser calling herself “Air Holiness” (real name Vanilla Salma Mahmud).
Described as a spiritual life strategist with an interest in crystals, herbal remedies, and “paraphysics,” she was alleged to have become a gatekeeper on set, with crew forced to communicate through her.
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Anonymous production sources called her disruptive, while entertainment media compared the situation to other artists who’d become entangled with controlling managers or spiritual figures like those around the Daniel Kaluuya cult rumours.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4474055489327117 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Both Kaluuya and Air Holiness denied these accounts. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he pushed back, saying the narrative was built on unnamed sources rather than facts, and that it was simply a case of him restructuring his team.
She called the rumours false and said she wasn’t involved in any firings. Still, the whispers stuck. Fans drew parallels to Get Out’s themes of hypnosis and control, joking that its star had ended up in his own “Sunken Place” due to the Daniel Kaluuya cult rumours.
The reality seems more mundane. By 2024 Kaluuya had signed with WME Management and remained represented by B-Side, suggesting the experiment with alternative management was short-lived.
He co-directed and released The Kitchen on Netflix, and a statue was unveiled in London to mark his role in Get Out.
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He has ongoing commitments too: voicing Spider-Punk in Sony’s Spider-Verse films, developing a spin-off, and starring in a new A24 project alongside Chris Rock.
His production company is even attached to a live-action Barney film with A24 and Mattel.
Why, then, the “cult” discourse? In truth, it may be the quiet years that feed the cult rumours surrounding Daniel Kaluuya. 2024 marked the first time in his career that Kaluuya didn’t appear in a film, TV, or theatre project.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4474055489327117 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});As 2025 wears on with no new acting release announced, fans are left to wonder if his reduced visibility is down to career choices, private struggles, or something more conspiratorial surrounding the Daniel Kaluuya cult rumours.
Why the Rumours Stick
At this stage, the “cult” label looks more like internet myth-making than evidence-based reporting. Kaluuya has continued to work behind the camera, his projects are still moving, and his return to screen seems inevitable.
Until he decides to sit down and explain the gap years, the rumours will circulate.
For now, the more grounded truth is probably this: after scaling Hollywood faster than almost anyone of his generation, Daniel Kaluuya has earned the right to slow down and choose his own path.
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