It has become a “byword for a corrupt elite” ruling the world, said indy100 , and supposedly boasts Beyoncé, Madonna, Jay-Z and Donald Trump among its members. The name “Illuminati” is “so powerful that it has begun to rule TikTok”, becoming last year’s “most talked-about counter-mainstream idea”.

The story is “pretty compelling” – but “that’s all it is, a story”. And it is one that the “stars themselves have shrugged off or even mischievously fuelled”. While most of the rumours surrounding the Illuminati and its members are fiction, the group was at one time real – though its influence was not nearly as vast and enduring as modern conspiracists claim.

How did the Illuminati start?

The idea of an “illuminati”, meaning “enlightened” or “illuminated”, has been around since the 15th ce

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