Arnold Schwarzenegger Dragged After Insisting Heaven Is A 'Fantasy'

Apr 03, 2024

Jun. 6 2023, Published 8:15 p.m. ET

Critics weren't pleased with Arnold Schwarzenegger after the former California governor claimed that he didn't believe in the afterlife — and slammed everybody who did.

In a recent interview, the Predator star remembered the moment when radio show host Howard Stern asked him what he thought happened to people after they died.

"I said, ‘Nothing. You’re 6 feet under. Anyone that tells you something else is a f***ing liar,’" he explained. "I said, ‘We don’t know what happens with the soul and all this spiritual stuff that I’m not an expert in, but I know that the body as we see each other now, we will never see each other again like that.’"

Schwarzenegger also described the idea of Heaven as nothing more than a pleasant "fantasy."

"When people talk about, ‘I will see them again in heaven,’ it sounds so good, but the reality is that we won’t see each other again after we’re gone," he added. "That’s the sad part. I know people feel comfortable with death, but I don’t."

"Because I will f***ing miss the s*** out of everything," he continued. "To sit with you here, that will one day be gone? And to have fun and to go to the gym and to pump up, to ride my bike on the beach, to travel around, to see interesting things all over the world. What the f***?"

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Following the sit-down, critics flooded social media with comments condemning the 75-year-old actor for his blunt comments.

"Arnold Schwarzenegger just angry because he’s not going to heaven. No place for another evil greedy trashy elitist," one Twitter user raged, while another quipped, "Nice to know none of these a**h***s will be in Haeven [sic] with us."

A third person accused Schwarzenegger of calling Jesus "an effing liar" adding, "Who do you trust more? Jesus or Arnold?"

Although it appears Schwarzenegger isn't particularly religious now, he's spoken in the past about his experiences with organized religion as a young boy.

"I grew up Catholic," he admitted in a YouTube video posted to his channel back in 2021. "I went to church, went to Catholic school, I learned the Bible ... And from those days I remember a phrase that is relevant today: a servant’s heart. It means serving something larger than yourself."

"What we need right now from our elected representatives is a public servant’s heart," he continued at the time. "We need public servants that serve something larger than their own power or their own party. We need public servants who will serve higher ideals, the ideals in which this country was founded, the ideals that other countries look up to."

Schwarzenegger spoke with Interview magazine about his feelings on Heaven.