Whatever Happened to....Rhonda Byrne from The Secret

In the sidebar, I promised you a weekly post that lets you know what has happened with some of the lesser-known teachers from the movie, The Secret. Although Rhonda Byrne is not technically thought of as one of the featured teachers, she is responsible for bringing them together to make the film. For that reason, I'm not only including her, I'm putting her first.



Rhonda Byrne Since The Secret

Byrne has been a busy lady since producing the movie. She has gone on to write four more books: The Secret Daily Writings, The Secret Gratitude Book, The Magic, and The Power. I'm not sure of the order in which they were released.

Controversy, Seclusion and Legal Battles

While Byrne has made a whole lot of money with her career and success, it hasn't been all sunshine and roses for her. She's been accused of fraud, had a falling out with Esther Hicks, and became embroiled in controversial lawsuits. Byrne got a lot of press about being sued and suing. If you want to read some details about that, the New York Times still has an article posted online from 2008.

The result of all the publicity had Byrne spending a lot of time secluded in her home and out of the public eye. Perhaps that is when she wrote the other books.

Denying Responsibility

I've no doubt that famous people make very easy targets for having their privacy invaded, being accused of things and being named in lawsuits. Certainly, that's not uncommon. I don't envy the yucky stuff this lady has been through but there is one thing that bothers me a lot. That is Byrne's denial of her responsibility for her finances and business. It just seems so odd to me, especially considering the principals taught in The Secret.

“I don’t control anything I create,” she told the lawyers, professing to have little grasp of the legal disputes in which she is embroiled. “I’m not aware of any of these things. I’m not involved.” - Byrne in her deposition, according to The Weekend Australian Magazine

Please understand that I do not profess to be any kind of ultimate authority here but isn't that statement a little contrary to what we know about Law of Attraction? Maybe it's just me. I'm going to drop it now.

The Good Stuff

Enough of gloom and doom. Regardless of Byrne's personal situations, which I actually believe are really none of our business, we have to credit her for her contribution. She started a mass movement and brought us The Secret. That's something no one can take from her and I, for one, am so grateful that she did it.

I'm embedding two Rhonda Byrne videos below. The one entitled, The Power is touted to be a full-length audio book but I read in the comments that 100 of the last pages are missing. Sorry, I've not read it, so can't say.





Editor's Update:  I just discovered some relatively current news about Rhonda Byrne's book, The Magic at Publishers Weekly.