Durek Verrett, known to his Hollywood clientele as Shaman Durek, has built a lucrative career as a self-proclaimed sixth-generation shaman from Sacramento, California. He counts Gwyneth Paltrow among his closest friends and clients and claims to be a wizard with magical powers who can turn atoms and reverse aging.
Now, a growing body of evidence suggests his entire origin story may be fabricated, with his own family leading the charge to contradict it.
Verrett has long claimed a rich shamanic heritage, telling audiences. “My great-grandmother was a medicine woman. She was from Africa and my grandfather was a Native American Blackfoot Indian. They were shamans in the tribe in the Lukumi tribe and the Yoruba tribe and then it was just passed down from one generation to the next until it got to me.”
The problem, according to investigative journalist Scott Carney, is that his mother has publicly stated multiple times that there is not a single shaman in the family tree. Verrett’s response was to claim the press had gotten to her, and he reportedly threatened to sue his own mother to keep her quiet.
His personal history raises further red flags. In 1991, at age 16, Verrett was convicted of felony arson and trespassing. Following his release in 1993, he was arrested three more times, including once for DV.
Verrett also claims a near-death experience transformed him into a healer, saying “I suffocated to death and d*ed.” In some tellings, he spent months in a coma, was told he would never walk again, and ultimately healed himself through ancestral spirits.
What is verifiable is that he suffered renal failure and required roughly eight years of dialysis before crowdfunding $100,000 for a kidney transplant, receiving a donor organ from his sister. His body subsequently rejected it.
His celebrity endorsement arrived through Paltrow, who featured him on her Goop platform and called him her “light in shining armor.” That co-sign helped him build a client list that eventually included Selma Blair, Chris Pine, James Van Der Beek, and Rosario Dawson. His core offering is a private session priced at up to $2,000, during which he claims to connect with a client’s spirit to address conditions ranging from anxiety to physical illness.
In October 2024, a Norwegian magazine published an account alleging that Verrett had inappropriately touched a client’s genitals without consent during a session. A former close associate then released voicemails in which Verrett acknowledged crossing a line, saying: “I did cross the line. I should have never sucked his c*ck.”
His spokesperson responded by stating that Verrett “often draws energy through the lymphatic system in areas around the armpits and groin” and that clients sign a legal document consenting to genital contact “as determined by him.”
Verrett, who married Norwegian Princess Martha Louise in August 2024 in a ceremony filmed for a Netflix documentary, remains active, still offering shamanic courses online while awaiting another kidney transplant.
