Daniel Kaluuya has had a meteoric rise to fame since his 2017 star-making role in Jordan Peele’s Get Out. Part of that is because of his raw talent and British charm, and part of that has been excellent choices in roles in smash films like Queen & Slim, Black Panther, and his award-sweeping performance in Judas and the Black Messiah. But being a regular old Hollywood “it” boy is boring. Why just be an Oscar winner when you could be a mysterious Oscar winner? Why just raise hairs in new age horror films when you could also raise eyebrows after following a new age guru? These are the questions it seems Kaluuya is answering with a loud “yes, and,” and we have questions.
The New York Post’s Page Six is reporting that Kaluuya has begun to cause a commotion in the rumor mill by closely following a “life strategist” named Heir Holiness, formerly called Heir Princess. He’s gone so far as to fire his agency, the famed CAA, and his PR firm and stylists. He did retain his manager. On a now-deleted LinkdIn page seen by The Post, Heir described herself as Kaluuya’s personal manager as well as “Head Mistress” for “The International Alma Mater, Blessed University.” Holiness is allegedly a 50-year-old originally from California named Vanylla Salimah Mahmoud, but she told The Post that she created the pseudonym “Heir Holiness” from a slave name. She denied working for Kaluuya, saying she’d only met him a couple of times. To the contrary, though, multiple sources fear that Heir has “taken over’ DK’s life and all decisions had to go through her.” According to Matt Belloni in his newsletter “What I’m Hearing,” Heir allegedly was by Kaluuya’s side for much of the filming of Peele’s new film Nope, and caused tension on set. The two apparently met through a makeup artist on the set of Black Panther, and have also been photographed together.
But who is Heir Holiness? It’s not that abnormal — in fact, it’s so cliché it’s almost satirical — for a rich and famous person to find a spiritual leader to abandon everything to follow. But typically in these fables, the person they decide to lean into has some kind of following already. Heir, on the other hand, barely has even a social media presence. According to The Post, on a private Instagram account with less than a thousand followers, Heir describes herself in one photo as “just a spiritual gangster serving a life sentence in a human body.” She has a Facebook page with a banner sending people to a site called yourspiritualfriend.com that sells crystal pyramids for your car dashboard. The site directs people to a now-deleted Twitter page and an Instagram page with no posts. The Facebook banner also has a phone number to call for a company called Life Support that sends callers to an automated menu for “intuitive guidance for the business of life.” The option to speak to Heir Holiness sends callers to a very charming personal voicemail. (Mic’s request for comment has yet to be returned.) Heir also has a Pinterest page with healing-themed boards that track from 2015 to 2017, and a Youtube page with no videos posted, but a bio that reads:
Peace Be With YOU! My name is Heir Holiness and I AM founder of The International Alma Mater (The I.A.M.) a Self LOVE, Self GROWTH, Self REALIZATION~Creation Station. Here is where I speak about Spiritual Principle, Processes, Practices and Perspectives that GUARANTEE you the Peace, Power & Prosperity you ARE! This is what gets YOU through the Boyfriends, the Break ups, The Break Downs all the way to the Breakthroughs with grace and ease... I also share the most efficacious, the most POWERFUL aspects of spirit to uplift, inspire and educate YOU as you Move Forward Fearlessly! This is a Divine Appointment and I AM sooo glad YOU made it!! Yayyyy!!! Leave Some.... LOVE, Me Yay!!
It’s all like the beginning of the plot to a Jordan Peele film. Perhaps Kaluuya is going method. Maybe he wants life to imitate art. Maybe he met a rad lady who is genuinely helping him change his life. Maybe someone needs to intervene. It’s all none of our business, but we can’t help but go down a wormhole trying to figure it out. We’ll update this story if we hear back from Heir Holiness herself.
