List of former or dissident Mormons
This is a list of well-known Mormon dissidents or other members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who have either been excommunicated or have resigned from the church – as well as of individuals no longer self-identifying as LDS and those inactive individuals who are on record as not believing and/or not participating in the church. While the church doesn't regularly provide information about excommunication or resignation, those listed here have made such information public. In a very few cases, the list below may include former adherents of other Latter Day Saint movement denominations who have ceased identifying as members of the Church, as well.
See: List of Latter-day Saints for current members of the LDS Church.
Phil Cunningham
Amy Adams
The singer Aguilera in a 2006 performance
Christina Aguilera is a singer who was raised in an LDS home but Aguilera has not self-identified as Mormon.
Corbin Allred , American actor. He starred in the motion picture Saints and Soldiers and the 1997–1998 television series Teen Angel .
David Archuleta , American pop singer
Hal Ashby , director of New Hollywood films such as Shampoo and Being There
Tal Bachman , son of Randy Bachman (Bachman-Turner Overdrive ) and Canadian musician known for his 1999 hit song, "She's So High "
Randy Bachman , Canadian musician and founder of The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Belladonna , American pornographic actress
Dustin Lance Black , screenwriter and producer, 2009 Oscar for Best Screenplay for Milk
Benson Boone , American singer known for Beautiful Things and Mystical Magical
Gutzon Borglum , sculptor most noted for the heads of U.S. presidents on Mount Rushmore
Wilford Brimley , actor known for Cocoon , The Firm , Quaker Oats commercials, and Liberty Medical "diabeetus" meme
Win Butler , frontman for the band Arcade Fire
Ed Catmull , animation pioneer and president of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation
Johnny Cunningham , brother of Phil, and member of Silly Wizard [ citation needed ]
Phil Cunningham , Scottish folk musician, member of Silly Wizard
Cytherea , American pornographic actress.
Brian Keith Dalton , the creator, producer and main character of Mr Deity . He coined the term "Formon" for "former Mormon" in 1996.
Eliza Dushku , actress known for roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Tru Calling , Dollhouse
Richard Dutcher , independent filmmaker and actor known for films God's Army , God's Army 2: States of Grace , Brigham City
Aaron Eckhart , Golden Globe Award-nominated actor known for roles in Thank You for Smoking , The Dark Knight , Erin Brockovich
Mindy Gledhill , singer songwriter
Tyler Glenn , lead singer for the American rock band Neon Trees
Ryan Gosling , Academy Award-nominated actor known for roles in Half Nelson , The Notebook , Drive
Leigh Harline , Hollywood composer, known most notably for "When You Wish Upon a Star "
Annette Haven , American former pornographic actress
Katherine Heigl , American actress
Jessica Holmes , Canadian comedian
Julianne Hough , dancer, actress, singer, songwriter
Neil LaBute , playwright
Bert McCracken , of the rock band The Used
Jennette McCurdy is the author of I'm Glad My Mom Died , and acted in the sitcom iCarly .
David Petruschin is a drag queen with the stage name "Raven" and was raised Mormon.
Sue-Ann Post , Australian comedian
Kevin Rahm , actor known for his television roles as Kyle McCarty on Judging Amy , Lee McDermott on Desperate Housewives , and Ted Chaough on Mad Men
Dan Reynolds (singer) , singer for rock band Imagine Dragons
Wayne Sermon , guitarist for rock band Imagine Dragons
Will Swenson , actor and singer
Brendon Urie , of rock band Panic! at the Disco
Janet Varney , American actress and podcaster
Paul Walker , actor known for role in The Fast and the Furious film series
Alex Winters , BBC children's TV presenter
La Monte Young , composer and musician.
Mahonri Young , sculptor and grandson of Brigham Young
Warren Zevon , singer/songwriter
Bruce Bastian , businessman and philanthropist, co-created WordPerfect software.
Nolan Bushnell , founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese
George S. Eccles , CEO of First Security Bank and philanthropist
Marriner Eccles , CEO of First Security Bank and Chairman of the Federal Reserve System
Jim Jannard , sunglasses designer and founder of Oakley, Inc.
Bryan Johnson (entrepreneur) , Founder of Braintree , Venmo and Kernel
Wilson McCarthy , head of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad
Politics
Former Mormon Misty Snow ran as the first transgender person nominated by a major party for the U.S. Senate.
Rocky Anderson , 33rd mayor of Salt Lake City , Utah , 2000–2008
Jacinda Ardern , Prime Minister New Zealand , 2017–2023
Frank J. Cannon , U.S. Senator from Utah
Jim Dabakis , Utah state senator.
James "Bo" Gritz , controversial former United States Army Special Forces officer
Abby Huntsman , political commentator and great-granddaughter of Apostle David B. Haight
Jon Huntsman Jr. , former Utah governor, former U.S. Ambassador to Singapore, China, and Russia, and grandson of Apostle David B. Haight
Sonia Johnson , feminist activist.
National Center for Lesbian Rights executive director Kate Kendell
Kate Kendell , attorney and activist, former director of National Center for Lesbian Rights .
Alfred W. McCune , railroad builder, mine operator, and politician
Sterling McMurrin , U.S. Commissioner of Education in the Kennedy administration, provost of the University of Utah, and philosopher
Culbert Olson , twenty-ninth governor of California
Esther Peterson , Assistant Secretary of Labor in the Kennedy administration and consumer advocate
Pro-Life (born Marvin Richardson), politician known for his opposition to abortion and for changing his name to reflect his views
Calvin Rampton , three-term Utah governor
Marco Rubio , U.S. Secretary of State and former Senator from Florida
Brent Scowcroft , National Security Adviser to multiple U.S. Presidents
Carrie Sheffield , writer and political analyst
Kyrsten Sinema , U.S. Senator from Arizona
Misty Snow , political candidate; first transgender nominee for a major U.S. political party to the nation's Senate
Obert C. Tanner , founder of the O.C. Tanner Company, philanthropist, and philosophy professor
Morris Udall , Arizona Congressman and presidential candidate
Stewart Udall , Secretary of the Interior in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, Arizona congressman, environmental activist, attorney, and author
Tom Udall , U.S. Senator for New Mexico
Jenny Wilson (politician) , Salt Lake County Mayor
Ted Wilson (mayor) , former Salt Lake City mayor
Carl Wimmer , member of the Utah House of Representatives from 2006 to 2012
Miscellaneous
Heather Armstrong , blogger, dooce.com
Martha Nibley Beck , daughter of Mormon scholar Hugh Nibley and author of bestseller Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith .
Steve Benson , cartoonist and grandson of LDS Church president Ezra Taft Benson
Patrick Califia , sexuality writer
Brian Evenson , American writer of literary and popular fiction
Vardis Fisher , "Lost Generation" author of Children of God and the Testament of Man [ circular reference ]
Laci Green sex educator and online video creator for Seeker and MTV .
Alyssa Grenfell , American YouTuber and author.
Johnny Harris , American journalist and YouTuber
Alice Hoagland (1949–2020), American flight attendant and activist
Carolyn Tanner Irish , bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America
Walter Kirn , literary editor of GQ
Grant H. Palmer , lifelong employee of the Church Educational System and author of An Insider's View of Mormon Origins (2003)
Levi Peterson , author of The Backslider
Arthur Pratt , tenth child of LDS Apostle Orson Pratt and Sarah Pratt , deputy U.S. marshal
Sarah M. Pratt , critic of plural marriage , first wife of Apostle Orson Pratt
Jeremy Runnells , author of a widely-circulated letter critical of the LDS Church.
Cara Santa Maria , American science correspondent and podcaster
William Shunn , science fiction writer
Julia Murdock Smith , adopted daughter of Joseph Smith
Virginia Sorensen , "Lost Generation" novelist of A Little Lower Than The Angels
Jerald and Sandra Tanner , writers, researchers and critics of the LDS Church
Lynne Kanavel Whitesides , feminist
Excommunicated members
Lavina Fielding Anderson , scholar, writer, editor, and feminist posthumously reinstated by the LDS Church in 2024
Martha Beck , sociologist , life coach , best-selling author, and columnist for O, The Oprah Magazine
Arthur Gary Bishop , serial killer and child molester
Fawn M. Brodie , biographer and history professor[ citation needed ]
Jason Derek Brown , 489th fugitive to be placed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted list
Ted Bundy , convicted serial killer and rapist
John Dehlin , founder of the Mormon Stories podcast
James J. Hamula , former LDS general authority
Mark Hofmann , double murderer and an expert forger; "considered by forensic experts to be the best forger yet caught"
Helmuth Hübener , opponent of the Third Reich ; posthumously reinstated by the LDS Church in 1946
Sonia Johnson , feminist and a Peace and Freedom Party presidential nominee
Kate Kelly , lawyer and feminist, advocate of woman holding the priesthood
Ogden Kraut , independent Mormon fundamentalist author
Deborah Laake , wrote an ex-Mormon memoir.
John D. Lee , executed for the Mountain Meadows Massacre and posthumously reinstated by the LDS Church in 1961
George P. Lee , former LDS general authority, convicted child molester
Bob Lonsberry , writer and talk radio host, expelled for "bad conduct" prior to 2001, has since rejoined
Leonard Matlovich , Bronze Star Medal recipient and gay US Air Force veteran
Richard McCoy Jr. , hijacker of a United Airlines passenger jet for ransom in 1972
Brent Lee Metcalfe , LDS historian[ citation needed ]
Teresa Nielsen Hayden , essayist and science fiction editor, lapsed at time of excommunication
Connell O'Donovan , American historian, biographer, and genealogist
D. Michael Quinn , LDS historian
Denver Snuffer , Utah lawyer and author of books on LDS doctrine
Simon Southerton , molecular biologist
Paul Toscano , attorney and author
Dan Vogel , LDS historian[ citation needed ]
George D. Watt , secretary to Brigham Young and compiler of the Journal of Discourses
Ann Eliza Young , ex-wife of Brigham Young