Former teen heartthrob Andrew Keegan denies he ever ran a cult despite rumors his Full Circle organization was one.
Andrew Keegan was one of the many mid-tier teeny-bopper heartthrobs of the 1990s, with roles in Camp Nowhere, sitcom Thunder Alley and, near the end of his popularity in the decade, a smaller role in 10 Things I Hate About You, not to mention spots on quintessential ‘90s TV like Full House, Step by Step and Boy Meets World. The dude had his fans to be sure, but a cult following is taking it a little too far…
Andrew Keegan’s career shift was inevitable – you don’t stay a Tiger Beat cover boy forever – but when it was believed that he was leading a cult in his 30s, no one could have predicted that. On a recent episode of Pod Meets World, the gang asked Andrew Keegan about the rumors circulating that he had launched a cult in California in the mid-2010s. “You mean when I woke up one day and I was anointed a cult leader?”
Keegan maintains that what he founded – called Full Circle – wasn’t any such entity, instead labeling it a “community center.” On it, he said, “There was this interesting group of hippie types, if you will, in Venice. I’m sure if you went on the west side, there’s definitely a lot of spirituality…I was connected with some folks and we had this opportunity. This old Hare Krishna Temple, it was sitting there empty and we were like, ‘Why don’t we get some people together and let’s open this place up?’” One can’t help but think of the Boy Meets World episode in which Shawn Hunter joined “The Centre”, which was totally not a cult, either…
This endeavor would find Andrew Keegan and company shelling out tens of thousands of dollars to get the group going, even though it would shutter just three years later. Keegan admits that “Full Circle” may not have been the best name and that he could have done more to keep it open, but remembers the impact it had on others. “They just really created a very interesting, colorful story and put it together…We really just got together and did a Sunday thing. We did almost 1,000 events in three years and it was actually really hard. It was really beneficial to a lot of people, I still hear about it now, where people are like, ‘That was such a great time.’”
While Andrew Keegan continues to deny reports that Full Circle was a cult, he did joke that being called the leader of one is “kind of like a badge of honor.”
What do you make of Andrew Keegan’s dip into this scene? Do you think Full Circle was a cult? Give us your thoughts below!
