Top 10 People Who Can Be Argued to Be Cults of Personality

For those of you who don't know, a cult of personality is when someone becomes the object of people's obsessions as they rise onto the public scene because of their charisma, interests, and methods, and become someone people defend until the end.

This glorification can be inadvertent, or it can be entirely intentional. The person themselves might not be bad at all, or they might exploit those who come to their aid.

The person may not even come to mind when people talk about cults of personality. The last of these is what this list is made to explore.

1. Steve Jobs

   

   Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 - October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur and business magnate. He co-founded Apple Inc., serving as chairman and chief executive officer. He also founded NeXT, where he was chairman and CEO.... read more

   His name is a synonym for the phrase "cult of personality". Everyone talks about how he rose onto the scene from Anakin Skywalker beginnings, making a multibillion-dollar company in his garage. However, nobody talks about how rocky his personal relationships were or how he tried to hide scandals in his company, such as how it obtained cheap labor by underpaying citizens of third-world countries.

2. Walt Disney

   

   Walter Elias Disney (December 5, 1901 to December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, and entrepreneur. He was a pioneer of the American animation industry and introduced several innovations in the production of cartoons. As a film producer, he holds the record for the most Academy Awards... read more

   For a man who a worldwide culture revolves around, there are many morally questionable things he's done. For example, he was instrumental in McCarthyism and could be a jerk to people he didn't like.

3. K.S. Chithra

   

   Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra, often credited as K. S. Chithra or simply Chithra, is an Indian playback singer from Kerala. She also sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. Chithra has recorded over 25,000 songs in various languages and is a recipient of six National Film Awards.

4. William Shakespeare

   

   William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He wrote approximately 39 plays, 154 sonnets, and numerous poems. His works are still widely studied, performed, and celebrated globally... read more

   The author of the most famous plays of all time, even to this day, you'd have to be brave to disagree with his work in front of his fans, as famous author Tolkien learned.

5. Kim Jong Un

   

   Kim Jong-un (born January 8, 1983) is a North Korean politician who has served as Supreme Leader of North Korea since December 2011 and as Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea since April 2012. He's the third leader in the Kim dynasty, following his father Kim Jong-il and his grandfather Kim Il-sung... read more

6. Stephen Hawking

   

   Stephen William Hawking (January 8, 1942 - March 14, 2018) was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author. He served as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge from 1979 to 2009 and is best known for his work on black hole radiation, often called Hawking radiation... read more

   His fans make it hard to criticize this person. His tragic backstory and works on physics compel them to exalt him enough that he has a movie based on his love life, which Mrs. Hawking herself likened to fan fiction.

7. Tom Cruise

   

   Thomas Cruise Mapother IV is an American actor and producer with a career spanning more than four decades. He has received various accolades for his work, including three Golden Globe Awards and four Academy Award nominations. Cruise is best known for starring in the Mission: Impossible franchise, which... read more

8. Baha'u'llah

   

   While not a bad person, his followers, who also follow his son and great-grandson, take their loyalty to him a wee bit far. This ends up fueling aversion to a decent movement.

9. Donald Trump

   

   Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York) is an American businessman, television personality, politician, and the 45th and 47th President of the United States.

   Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Donald J. Trump received an economics degree from the Wharton School of the... read more

10. Taylor Swift

    

    Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter, born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania. She developed a strong interest in country music around the age of nine after watching a Faith Hill documentary. Swift moved to Nashville as a teenager and, after signing with RCA Records, began... read more

The Newcomers
11. ?

    Kriti Sanon

    

    Kriti Sanon, born on July 27, 1990, is an Indian actress and model who works primarily in Hindi-language films. She made her acting debut in the Telugu film 1: Nenokkadine in 2014 and gained recognition in Bollywood with Heropanti the same year. She has since received several awards, including a National... read more

12. ?

    Joe Rogan

    

    Joseph James "Joe" Rogan, born on August 11, 1967, is an American podcaster, comedian, and UFC commentator. He is the host of The Joe Rogan Experience, a podcast where he talks with a wide range of guests about topics such as current events, politics, science, comedy, and philosophy. Rogan is known for... read more

The Contenders

13. Michael Jackson

    

    Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009) was an American singer, dancer, and songwriter. He passed away from cardiac arrest caused by acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication, which was ruled a homicide. Jackson is widely regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures... read more

    Even today, it's difficult to criticize him without upsetting a world of fans. So be extra careful if you ever decide to make a joke about him.

    The most famous person in history after Jesus.

14. Ayn Rand

    

    Her fans are still alive and well. Fortunately, the rocky relationship is warming up.

15. Beyoncé

    

    Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who began her career as lead singer of Destiny's Child. The group scored multiple Billboard No. 1 hits including "Say My Name," "Bills, Bills, Bills," "Survivor," "Independent Women," and "Bootylicious." After their split,... read more

16. Gordon Ramsay

    

    Gordon James Ramsay (born November 8, 1966) is a Scottish-born British chef, restaurateur, and television personality. He's well known as the host of shows like Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, MasterChef Australia, and Hotel Hell, and he's recognized for his fiery personality, high standards, and... read more

    He may not sound like he fits the mold, but there is a huge contrast between how he is in public and how he is in private. Pointing this out is taken to heart by many of his fans. His biography shows people really will do anything.

17. John Lennon

    

    John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (born John Winston Lennon, 9 October 1940-8 December 1980), was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and political activist. He rose to worldwide fame as the co-founder, co-lead vocalist, and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles, the most commercially successful band in the... read more

    His demise was tragic, yes, and his songs aren't bad, but he is really just like everyone else. His band's famous claim that he is "above Jesus" shows he did have the personality cult undertone in mind. His songs are also formulaic to an extent.

18. Harry Styles

    

    Harry Edward Styles is an English singer and songwriter. He initially gained fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. He has since launched a successful solo career with albums Harry Styles, Fine Line, and Harry's House, producing global hits such as "Watermelon Sugar" and "As It Was."

19. Winston Churchill

    

    Sir Winston Leonard Spencer‑Churchill was a British statesman who led the United Kingdom as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. He is renowned for his leadership during World War II and his stirring wartime speeches. Churchill also had a distinguished early career as a British... read more

    He is great as far as leaders go, but he is in absolutely loads upon loads of YouTube videos praising him that don't talk about the rough parts of his rule. Such as how he gave India the cold shoulder and made way for the pet holocaust.

    His association with anything makes the item's price skyrocket. People continue to express the same sentiment towards him as they would to someone they'd jump in front of a double-decker bus for.

20. Evita Peron

    

    María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of Argentine President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is usually referred to as Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish diminutive Evita... read more

21. Joseph Stalin

    

    Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Georgian revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death on March 5, 1953. He held the title of General Secretary of the Communist Party's Central Committee, which gave him effective control over the Soviet state. His rule was marked by rapid... read more

22. Mahatma Gandhi

    

    Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India.

    He's widely known for his philosophy of nonviolent resistance, or satyagraha, which helped lead India to independence in 1947. Gandhi's methods and beliefs influenced civil rights... read more

23. Benito Mussolini

    

    Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 until he was ousted in 1943. He ruled constitutionally until 1925, when he established a legal dictatorship. Mussolini allied Italy with Nazi... read more

24. John F. Kennedy

    

    John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963), commonly known as JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from January 1961 until his assassination. His presidency was marked by the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962), the Bay of Pigs Invasion (April 1961), the signing... read more

25. Elon Musk

    

    Elon Reeve Musk (born June 28, 1971) is a technology entrepreneur, investor, and engineer best known for being the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and X (formerly known as Twitter). He co-founded PayPal, which was acquired by eBay in 2002.... read more

26. Mao Zedong

    

    Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary and founding father of the People's Republic of China, which he governed as Chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976... read more

27. Che Guevara

    

    Ernesto "Che" Guevara, commonly known as El Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist.

    He was captured in 1967 during a failed armed insurgency in Bolivia. On the evening of October 8, he was taken to a small... read more