Starstruck: A Journalist's Pursuit of a Fugitive Pop Star, Her Diabolical Maestro, and Their Teenage Sex Cult

The too-wild-to-believe story of how Mexico's queen of pop became involved in a sex cult

In 2000, an international manhunt was underway for Mexican superstar Gloria Trevi, her manager Sergio Andrade, and the young girls in their entourage. They had gone on the run after Trevi and Andrade were accused of the abuse and rape of the girls in their care. How had a superstar gotten involved in a sex cult with nearly a dozen teenage girls?

Andrade founded a performing arts school that plucked young girls out of obscurity and promised to cultivate them into stars. His first recruit was Gloria Trevi. For many girls and their parents, the opportunity was too tempting to pass up. When a known hitmaker and Mexico's most famous singer promised they could leave their hard life behind, how could they say no? But already, whispers of abuse had been circulating, and finally, the allegations caught up to them--resulting in a two-year, international chase for the pair and the girls they had taken with them. Finally apprehended in Brazil and imprisoned there, Gloria and Sergio still had tricks up their sleeves.

In this hair-raising, masterful investigation, bestselling author and journalist Christopher McDougall uncovers the dark secrets of the "supreme diva of Mexican pop" and her mercurial manager, catching us up on this remarkable case and the civil suit that has recently been brought against them in Los Angeles. Starstruck is an eye-opening story about the allure of fame and the corrupting influence of power.

Author: Christopher McDougall
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 04/07/2026
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.20w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9798217008285


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2026
Publishers Weekly 02/09/2026

About the Author
CHRISTOPHER McDOUGALL covered wars in Rwanda and Angola as a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press before writing his bestselling book Born to Run. His fascination with the limits of human potential led to his next works Running with Sherman and Natural Born Heroes, and his Outside magazine web series, "Art of the Hero."