Freeform’s True Crime Cult Docuseries Addresses Warren Jeffs, More

Freeform’s newest true crime series highlights the survivors of modern-day cults.

Us Weekly can exclusively reveal that How I Escaped My Cult will premiere Thursday, February 20, on Freeform and the entire 10-part season will be available Friday, February 21, on Hulu. According to the official teaser trailer, the series centers around a different cult in each episode through first-hand accounts from those who found a way to successfully leave their sects and their influential leaders behind.

“All I wanted was to escape from him,” says one woman who is interviewed, while another noted, “I was afraid that I was going to die. I had this spirit in me that I was not going to let anyone take me down.”

Footage in the sneak peek showed various people discussing how they were “trapped in a cult.”

“If I got caught, he would for sure kill me,” another unnamed woman recalled. “I thought, I am finally free but that was just the beginning.”

How I Escaped My Cult specifically showed a photo of Warren Jeffs while a man added, “It was an emotional battle. We were brainwashed.” Jeffs, 69, the president of the polygamous cult Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is currently serving a life sentence in Texas for child sexual assault following two 2011 convictions.

The synopsis for How I Escaped My Cult teases how the true crime series “takes viewers into insidious modern-day cults through the unique lens of members who endured unspeakable trauma, and the shocking investigations into these oppressive groups.” How I Escaped My Cult included “detailed, first-hand accounts from former cult members, their loved ones, and the investigators who helped bring these tormentors to justice, each episode follows the unique and harrowing journey of a survivor from their earliest cult experiences and revelations, all the way up to their heart-pounding escapes.”

Narrated by Tamron Hall, How I Escaped My Cult joins several other true crime projects at Freeform. Sasha Reid and the Midnight Order, which premiered in July 2024, followed Dr. Sasha Reid and her society of young women who came together to work outside the legal system to solve cold cases across Canada.

Earlier this month, Freeform released Scam Goddess, a true crime documentary series based on the podcast of the same name. Laci Mosley travels around the country in the show to bust various cons, including religious scammers, fake royalty, Ponzi schemes and more.

How I Escaped My Cult premieres on Freeform Thursday, February 20, and the entire 10-episode season will be available Friday, February 21, on Hulu and on demand.