Will Smith is a Scientologist. Church leaders have a history of violence

[Quixote1818]

He denies being a Scientologist but those around him say he is one. I think it's similar to people who do Amway but deny they do Amway and change the name to something else because of the stigma. My MAGA brother does Amway but they now call it "The Plan" or some other similar codeword.

After Earth Is Will Smith’s Love Letter to Scientology
https://www.vulture.com/2013/05/after-earth-will-smith-love-letter-to-scientology.html

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's School Was 'Total Scientology,' Says Former Headmaster
BY JANICE WILLIAMS ON 7/27/20 AT 11:47 AM EDT

https://www.newsweek.com/will-smith-jada-pinkett-smiths-school-was-total-scientology-says-former-headmaster-1520730

Report: Scientology leaders often violent
The leader of the Church of Scientology struck subordinates many times and set an example for violence among the tightly controlled religion's management team, according to a published report.
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna31478638

[uponit7771]

1. False, WS is not a scientologist.

[paleotn]

2. Certainly hope not.

Otherwise his stock has gone to absolute zero with me.

[Quixote1818]

3. He denies it but many say he is

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's School Was 'Total Scientology,' Says Former Headmaster

https://www.newsweek.com/will-smith-jada-pinkett-smiths-school-was-total-scientology-says-former-headmaster-1520730

[Native]

4. Yup. This is bullshit.

[Quixote1818]

7. Teachers at his school say it was a Scientology School

https://www.newsweek.com/will-smith-jada-pinkett-smiths-school-was-total-scientology-says-former-headmaster-1520730

I have family members who do Amway but they never call it Amway. Same type of BS. They know it has a stigma so they deny it while practicing it.

[Native]

11. Interesting article. Thanks

[BlackSkimmer]

25. What does "do Amway" mean?

[obamanut2012]

5. People here are denying it, but he and his wife absolutely are

[demmiblue]

6. Just a flashback regarding the Scientology claim:

Former teachers and administrators at the Smiths’ shuttered New Village Leadership Academy reveal to The Daily Beast that despite their public denials, it was a Scientology school.

There was some healing that needed to happen. And so, in October 2018, Hollywood superstar Will Smith joined his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, for a special two-part episode of her Facebook Watch series Red Table Talk.

One year prior, The Daily Beast had published an interview with Leah Remini, the ex-Scientologist turned whistleblower who alleged that Pinkett Smith was a devoted practitioner of Scientology—a costly endeavor (reaching its highest “Operating Thetan” levels can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars) that comprises tales of intergalactic overlords, dead alien souls, “body thetans,” and the curious theory that humans evolved from clams.

“I know Jada’s in. I know Jada’s in. She’s been in Scientology a long time,” Remini told me. “I never saw Will [Smith] there, but I saw Jada at the Celebrity Centre. They opened up a Scientology school, and have since closed it. But Jada, I had seen her at the Scientology Celebrity Centre all the time.”

Remini was referring to the Scientology Celebrity Centre in Hollywood, California, where its handful of famous acolytes take courses along the “Bridge to Total Freedom.” The King of Queens star’s claim prompted Will to clear the air.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-will-and-jada-pinkett-smiths-scientology-school

[Eliot Rosewater]

9. Yeah, pretty clear they are involved.

[Quixote1818]

10. Thanks. nt

[BlackSkimmer]

26. That's an interesting article.

Thanks for posting it.

[Coventina]

8. Woa. That's seriously disappointing. Not that I super admired WS & JPS

a whole lot, but when I learn someone is it's always disappointing.

And yes, Scientology has a violent, bullying reputation.

[quickesst]

12. The Smiths marriage...

.... is far from what you would call a " traditional marriage". Last night he proved he was a thin-skinned, petty asshole. If they are involved, which I have a strong tendency to believe they are, with Scientology or as I like to call it, CESSPOOLOLOGY, that makes them a part of something that is evil.
Leah Remini knows this, and has the actual experience and the people, most of whom are former members of Scientology, to back up her claims.
I personally think Will Smith should probably be grateful Chris Rock did not get really angry. Take it from me from personal experience, those skinny, wiry dudes can turn into wrecking machines in a heartbeat.

Will Smith should be grateful that Chris Rock did not press charges. As a matter of fact, I would have been a little disappointed if he had.

[BlackSkimmer]

27. This. nt

[quickesst]

28. That old adage....

"You can't always judge a book by its cover" usually ends in a favorable light for the "book".

[BlackSkimmer]

29. Ha!

Indeed.

[AnotherMother4Peace]

14. Scientology is a cult which is IRS tax exempt because:

Edit to add link: https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/essays/nytimes.html

The Shadowy Story Behind Scientology's Tax-Exempt Status
New York Times, 9 March 1997
By DOUGLAS FRANTZ

- snip -

"Scientology's lawyers hired private investigators to dig into the private lives of IRS officials and to conduct surveillance operations to uncover potential vulnerabilities, according to interviews and documents. One investigator said he had interviewed tenants in buildings owned by three IRS officials, looking for housing code violations. He also said he had taken documents from an IRS conference and sent them to church officials and created a phony news bureau in Washington to gather information on church critics. The church also financed an organization of IRS whistle-blowers that attacked the agency publicly."

"The decision to negotiate with the church came after Fred T. Goldberg Jr., the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service at the time, had an unusual meeting with Miscavige in 1991. Scientology's own version of what occurred offers a remarkable account of how the church leader walked into IRS headquarters without an appointment and got in to see Goldberg, the nation's top tax official. Miscavige offered to call a halt to Scientology's suits against the IRS in exchange for tax exemptions."

"After that meeting, Goldberg created a special committee to negotiate a settlement with Scientology outside normal agency procedures. When the committee determined that all Scientology entities should be exempt from taxes, IRS tax analysts were ordered to ignore the substantive issues in reviewing the decision, according to IRS memorandums and court files."

"The IRS refused to disclose any terms of the agreement, including whether the church was required to pay back taxes, contending that it was confidential taxpayer information. The agency has maintained that position in a lengthy court fight, and in rejecting a request for access by The New York Times under the Freedom of Information Act. But the position is in stark contrast to the agency's handling of some other church organizations. Both the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries and an affiliate of the Rev. Jerry Falwell were required by the IRS to disclose that they had paid back taxes in settling disputes in recent years."

- snip -

[AntiFascist]

15. Does Catholicism have a policy of teaching child rape?

Link to tweet

[JoanofArgh]

22. Well, this is interesting. It's sick.

[Duncan Grant]

16. Scientology has nothing in common with Catholicism.

Scientology is an oppressive “enterprise”. Adherents disappear. They practice “fair game” to discredit and harass critics (for decades). They destroy families and turn them against one another. This is only the tip of that despicable iceberg.

Many leaders of that organization have left it, denounce it and tell about their own culpability.

It’s no secret. The info is available.

[jcgoldie]

17. fuck

Just fucking terrible.

[BannonsLiver]

20. Yeah. It's a cult.

So there's that. Of course, one could make the argument all religions are cults. I'm okay with that argument, personally.

[marked50]

18. What? Lets' add Catholics To the list of Violence. Wait, What about Hindus?

Our outrages against those who we don't understand needs to stop. I am not a Scientologist nor support their beliefs but this "Us Vs Them" stuff got to Stop or we will just need to kill everyone who doesn't think, look, believe, or worship us.

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. Scientology is a business that manipulates people into donating money

and has a long, horrible record of mistreating people, and attacking any critics. It deserves no more respect than QAnon, or the Republican party. We don't call for "understanding" of them.

[JoanofArgh]

23. Scientology is a cult. There are plenty of documentaries

featuring former members ( HBO had a good one)and books written by former members ,such as Leah Remini’s, who was a member for years, detailing this fact

Link to tweet

?s=20&t=8FaOVBFEBq4ZQaw6oh699A

[JoanofArgh]

24. Leah Remini: Jada Pinkett Smith Is a Scientologist

“I know Jada’s in. I know Jada’s in. She’s been in Scientology a long time,” Remini tells The Daily Beast. “I never saw Will [Smith] there, but I saw Jada at the Celebrity Centre. They opened up a Scientology school, and have since closed it. But Jada, I had seen her at the Scientology Celebrity Centre all the time.” (Pinkett Smith did not return multiple requests for comment.)

Remini is referring to the Scientology Celebrity Centre in Hollywood, California, where star-adherents regularly gather to do Xenu knows what. And the since-shuttered “Scientology school” she mentions is New Village Leadership Academy in the tony neighborhood of Calabasas, California, which was largely funded by the Smith family—who subsequently hired much of the staff, many of whom, including the Director of Learning, were Scientologists. Though the Smiths insisted that their school was secular, it touted “Study Technology” as one of its teaching methodologies on its website, a heavily criticized practice devised by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Suri Cruise—daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes—attended the school before it shut its doors in 2013. In addition to the school, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, who are good friends of Cruise’s, reportedly donated $20,000 to Scientology’s literacy campaign HELP.

And while a former high-ranking Scientologist, Mike Rinder (who co-presents the A&E series with Remini), insisted to me a couple of years back that Will Smith was never a Scientologist, Remini claims that Pinkett Smith not only was a Scientologist, but still is.
“I had hoped that she had left [Scientology], but this was the tell-tale sign that she was still in,” said Remini, nodding to the Cruise hide-and-seek anecdote she shared in her book. “She was on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live a few weeks ago promoting her film [Girls Trip], and Andy [Cohen] said to her, ‘Have you read Leah Remini’s book?’ and he was like, ‘What was that whole thing about playing tag?’ and she said, ‘Oh, she lied.’ He goes, ‘Isn’t that weird, to play tag?’ and she goes, ‘No, the kids were there.’ That was untrue. Bullshit. There were no kids there. I was like, okay, alright, you’re gonna do that? More power to ya.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/leah-remini-jada-pinkett-smith-is-a-scientologist