Choudhury's arrival in Beverly Hills attracted numerous celebrity followers in the '70s, including M*A*S*H star Loretta Swit, Shirley MacLaine, Candice Bergen, and more. Even children would come to the classes, including Jason Bateman and his sister Justine, who accompanied their father. Justine told ESPN that before the sessions began, the yogi would call a child on stage with him to massage his shoulders. The practice of choosing students to come on stage and massage his shoulders or feet and brush his hair continued throughout his career — and allegedly became a part of his predatory behavior.
The yogi was aware that his celebrity fans were the key to his success, and as more famous faces appeared in his classes, he became wealthier and more influential. In 1998, Madonna visited Oprah Winfrey's talk show and declared her love for yoga, and in the podcast, one of Choudhury's former students Jimmy Barkan said that's when the yogi's business exploded. In the '90s, Choudhury capitalized on his growing success by starting teacher training courses so that he could control who taught Bikram yoga. It cost $10,000 for the nine-week training program that would allow attendees to teach hot yoga at their own studios. It was during these sessions that the dark side of Chodhury's influence began to emerge.
