BENJAMIN MILLEPIED
A thousand times ready for anything for Natalie
©Bestimage
When the choreographer meets the star actress of the film black swan on which he is a consultant, he is far from suspecting that his life will change completely. Crazy in love, he agrees to convert to Judaism in order to be able to marry his darling born in Jerusalem. Together they had two children including a little boy whom they named Aleph after the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
IVANKA TRUMP
heel law
Her love story is a kind of Romeo and Juliet which ends well. In 2005, Donald Trump’s daughter fell in love with real estate developer Jared Kushner, an Orthodox Jew. After three years of love, the couple separates because Jared’s parents oppose this union. To win the hearts of her in-laws, Ivanka converted to Judaism. On learning this, Donald almost choked. But over time, he got used to it. He didn’t even say a word when his son-in-law and daughter left the White House to observe Shabbat with the family. A real miracle!
JANET JACKSON
With her boyfriend, the Koran went well
©Bestimage
Sexy choreography and hot songs are a thing of the past. Since 2015 and her conversion to Islam, the singer has swapped her caliente outfits for other more covering ones. It is through her ex-husband, Wissam Al Mana, met in 2012 in Doha, that the star discovered the Muslim faith. Three months after the birth of their son in 2017, the couple separated, Janet has since abandoned her abayas, but not her new religion.
DIAM’S
From slam to Islam
After having chained depressions and stays in psychiatric hospitals, the most popular French rapper in France finds a lifeline in religion while she is on vacation in Mauritius. She then read the Koran and decided to go to 2008. “As a matter of course, I remember standing in the middle of the beach, I raised my head to the sky and called Allah to witness”, she explained. years later on Instagram. She decided to wear the veil at that time, before giving up music in 2010. Since then, Mélanie Diam’s, as she now calls herself, has had children and lives in Morocco.
ORLANDO BLOOM
fan of nirvana
The 45-year-old British actor has followed Buddha’s teachings since he was 16, but it was in the mid-2000s that he officially turned to Buddhism. In 2021, he also confided to the Sunday Times which he practiced every day. “I wake up very early and spend time with Daisy first”explains the actor whose youngest was born in August 2020 from his relationship with singer Katy Perry. “My fiancée needs a little more sleep, so I’m letting her rest. Then I start with twenty minutes of Buddhist chanting. Afterwards, I read the Buddhist scriptures a little.” If after that, the kingdom of heaven is not wide open to him!
SHIA LABEOUF
In the name of the father
His revelation, the actor of transformers got it while playing the role of an Italian saint in the film Padre Pio, which should soon be released in France. Raised by a Pentecostal father and a Jewish mother, Shia is now Catholic. “Now I know that God was using my ego to get me to accept the role and to draw me to him, he reported. Seeing others, who have sinned beyond anything I could imagine, being loved by Christ overwhelmed me and gave me hope.”
JULIA ROBERTS
All hindu sister
Already interested in Hinduism, the pretty woman, who initially received a Christian education in Georgia, deepened her knowledge of this religion in India, during the filming of the feature film Eat, Pray, Love. In 2010, she declared on American television during the promotion of the film that she was “definitely a practicing Hindu”. Today, she regularly attends a Hindu temple in Los Angeles with her husband Danny Moder and their three children.
SINEAD O’CONNOR
One at a time
In 1999, the Irish singer created a surprise by being ordained a priestess by an independent church, “Irish Orthodox, Catholic and Apostolic Church”. A believer, a practitioner, she ended up distancing herself from Catholicism in 2011, after the revelations of the press on the numerous scandals of sexual abuse within the church. Seven years later, she embraces the Muslim faith, changes her first name, calls herself Shuhada Davitt and publishes a photo of herself wearing the hijab. “All my life I’ve been a Muslim, I just didn’t know it,” she explains as if touched by grace.
DANY BOON
A little change
©Bestimage
Born of a Kabyle Muslim father and a Catholic mother, the director and actor of Ch’tis chose not to walk in any of his parents’ footsteps. After his marriage to Yaël Harris in 2003, he converted to Judaism “for himself”, he assures. “I understood that my conversion was successful when I started to receive tons of anti-Semitic insults”, he quips, thus proving that he had understood everything about Jewish humor!
MARINE EL HIMER
Big mecca over
At the beginning of November, the famous W9 twin surprised her followers by swapping her product placements, her stories of the heart and her videos of daily sports sessions for a more serious post in which she announced that she had converted to Islam. “It’s the dream of a little girl who has always sought to get closer to her origins, her roots and her story”, she explains before posting pictures of her pilgrimage to Mecca. Since then, she has posted fewer sports sessions and more partnerships with abaya brands.
RICHARD MANAGED
His BFF? The Dalai Lama
©Bestimage
Fervent Methodist, the actor of Pretty Woman discovers Buddhism during a trip to Tibet in 1982. Very quickly, his notoriety allows him to meet the 14th Dalai Lama who becomes a friend, a mentor and a father for him. A stroke of lightning as much spiritual as political since after 1983, Richard will not cease to defend the Tibetans, victims of Chinese oppression. In 1987, he even became the co-founder of the Tibet House, in New York, an association responsible for preserving the Tibetan cultural heritage.
FRANCK RIBERY
He only has God for her
©ABACA
In 2006, the footballer chose to take Islam as a religion for the beautiful eyes of his wife Wahiba. His Islamic name: Bilal Yusuf Mohammed. An act of faith and love which, according to him, would not have pleased everyone. “My conversion has embarrassed a lot of people. But it’s not because I’m a Muslim that I’m no longer French. I am French, I play for my country, for the France team. The rest is between God and me,” he explained. That has the merit of going straight to the point!
SNOOP DOGG
He doesn’t know which saint to turn to
In terms of religion, the rapper is versatile to say the least. Judge for yourself: first a Christian, he converted to Islam in 2009, under the influence of Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam organization. Four years later, Snoop changed his name to Snoop Lion, this time converting to Rastafarianism, a religion founded in 20th century Jamaica in which the Emperor of Ethiopia, His Majesty, is worshiped as a god. Rastafari, Haile Selassie I. Three years later, another turnaround: Snoop declares: “I would rather have Jesus in my life than gold and silver.” He even released a gospel album in 2017 and therefore became a Christian again! To be continued…
Marie-Pierre Galinon, Sarah Lévy-Laithier
Snoop Dogg, Julia Roberts, Shia Labeouf… Here are the crises of faith of the celebrities!