Hulu's new four-part docuseries "The Cult of NatureBoy" revisits the rise and fall of Eligio Bishop, the Atlanta influencer who turned his following into a group called Carbon Nation and is now serving life after a jury convicted him in 2024 of rape and related counts. Drawing on raw footage shot by followers and interviews with former members, the series tracks how internet fame slid into coercive control. For Atlanta viewers, it lands as a pointed reminder of how social media can spin charisma into criminal conduct.
Director Benjamin Zand told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Bishop, known to his followers as Natureboy, had a keen sense of how to work the algorithms and often pushed abusive stunts to draw views and donations. Zand first tracked Bishop in Costa Rica in 2018, then followed Carbon Nation back to the United States as alarm grew around the group. The AJC interview positions the documentary as both a record of abuse and a study of how attention itself became Bishop's fuel.
Court and sentencing
A DeKalb County jury found Bishop guilty in March 2024 of rape, false imprisonment and counts tied to transmitting sexually explicit material, and a judge later sentenced him to life without parole plus 10 years, according to the DeKalb County District Attorney. The office says the investigation began after a March 30, 2022 incident at a home on Arbor Chase in unincorporated Decatur, and that prosecutors relied on videos and testimony gathered from inside Carbon Nation. The official release also details the prosecutors and investigators who carried the case into court.
How social media fed Carbon Nation
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the series shows Bishop using YouTube, Instagram and the livestream platform Bigo Live to recruit followers, stage spectacles and pull in donations. The four-part project leans heavily on footage recorded by members themselves and was produced with support from ABC News Studios. It is now streaming on Hulu, where the mix of self-shot clips and reflective interviews gives viewers an uncomfortably close look at how performative violence helped Bishop cement control.
Voices and evidence
Former members, including Aaron Dixon, appear in the docuseries to describe strict rules, coercion and sexual control inside Carbon Nation. Prosecutors told jurors they played videos made by the group as evidence during the 2024 trial, according to WSB-TV. The DeKalb DA's account says the case gained traction after a former member reported a revenge porn incident, and that this testimony became central to securing the conviction. Many interviewees in the series describe a slow breakdown of consent and self-trust that made escaping the group feel nearly impossible.
Local and global context
Zand first encountered Bishop in Costa Rica and captured earlier material there, highlighting how Carbon Nation shifted across borders as it expanded, a pattern also documented by the BBC. The docuseries suggests that the blend of utopian rhetoric, influencer-style visuals and live performance made the group especially compatible with platforms that reward spectacle. For Atlanta residents, it serves as a blunt reminder that a big online following does not shield a leader from accountability in a courtroom.
Where to watch
Hulu's series page traces Carbon Nation's arc from 2016 recruitment to the 2024 trial and life sentence, and all four episodes are streaming now. The documentary has reignited local conversations about influence, consent and the risks that come with turning abuse into content. For those new to the case, the series functions as a compact crash course in how Carbon Nation grew, then eventually collapsed under criminal scrutiny.
