The #MeToo Movement’s Blind Spot: Scientology

When the #MeToo movement first rocked Hollywood in 2017, there was a palpable sense of change; serial predators like Harvey Weinstein were exposed and faced consequences for their actions. The next year, members of the entertainment industry came together to form the Time’s Up campaign, and it seemed like an industry with a history of exploitation was finally ready to purge sexual harassment and abuse from its ranks. But the movement had, and still has, a gaping blindspot: the influence of Scientology, a self-proclaimed religion founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in the mid 20th century, on many instances of abuse in Hollywood.

Scientology followers pay to take “self improvement” courses and receive “auditing” in which their responses to questions are measured by a machine called an “e-meter,” which they believe locates “spiritual stress” in the body but actually “measures the changes in the electrical resistance of the human body,” according to Gizmodo. Scientology promotes itself as the cure for mental health disorders; Scientologists believe that depression is caused by the souls of deceased aliens who have attached themselves to human bodies, and that the cure is to clear these thetans, becoming a higher spiritual being through Scientology courses.

Scientology has been known for being embedded in Hollywood thanks to high-profile celebrity members like Tom Cruise — as well as former members, like actress Leah Remini, who have spoken out against the institution, which enriches itself off of followers’ donations and its exploitation of its tax-exempt status. Faced with such criticism, Scientology has invoked language of religious persecution. For instance, when a French court charged the church with fraud in 2012, Scientologists took to the streets chanting “Respect my religion.” However, criticizing abstract belief is different from criticizing the corrupt, abusive institution of Scientology.

But recently it has become clear that Scientology is not the cure-all religion it claims to be. Allegations of child sexual abuse and leader David Miscavige beating church leaders have exposed the religion as an apparent hotbed of sexual harassment and abuse. Take the trial of Danny Masterson, a famous Scientologist and star of That ’70s Show. According to the Los Angeles Times, three women have filed rape charges against Masterson, and each has said the church tried to stop her from coming forward. The church’s attempts to stop these women included demanding one provide a written statement to “take responsibility” for the assault and threatening another with expulsion from Scientology if she went to the authorities. One victim, Bobette Riales, said the church stalked her, hacked her email, created fake ads putting her belongings up for sale, and even smashed the window of her 13-year-old child’s bedroom.

Given that Scientology promotes the mentality that individuals, including victims, are personally responsible for the bad things that happened to them, it’s perhaps unsurprising that this is their response to a claim of sexual assault within their community. Scientology is especially concerned with PR and has a policy that literally promotes total, personal destruction of the church’s critics. Quite a few former members in the past have told their stories of how reporting a fellow Scientologist to authorities, especially a famous, powerful one, can get a follower excommunicated from the church, completely ostracized by their loved ones, and subject them to a lifetime of spying and harassment from the church’s private investigators. As the Los Angeles Times reported in 2021, “knowing that contacting law enforcement can lead to excommunication and being cut off from family and friends who remain in the church, members often remain silent.”

Popular docu-series Leah Remini: Scientology and The Aftermath filled three seasons with stories of verbal, mental, and physical abuse suffered by both adults and children within the organization. Remini, a co-host of the show and former celebrity Scientologist, has spoken out against not only the church's actions but the hypocrisy of famous Scientologists and people who enable them.

Specifically, Remini has criticized actress and Scientologist Elisabeth Moss, star of The Handmaid’s Tale, for promoting Time’s Up while supporting a corrupt, abusive organization like Scientology.

“The hypocrisy is asinine,” Remini told The Daily Beast in 2019, adding that members of the press are complicit by not pressing Moss on her contradictory beliefs. “They want the celebrity to get to talk with them, and like them. You know, I don’t respect it, I don’t admire it, and I don’t think there’s anything remotely cute about it.”

Remini added that Moss’ denial of Scientology’s complicity in perpetuating abuse is especially unforgivable when there is such an overflow of readily available information on the subject. In addition to Remini’s show, New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright wrote a lengthy book on Scientology called Going Clear, inspiring an HBO documentary of the same name.

Despite all this attention, the harmful practices of Scientology are an open secret, exposed and corroborated but lacking serious action by authorities and the general public, begging the question: Why? Achieving justice requires standing up to forces with money and resources, forces that threaten to crush others with their power. We can only hope that witnessing the bravery of people speaking out against Scientology and standing up for their rights will create a ripple effect.