I was shocked to read about some of the celebs who have take Scientology class .
Content warning : This Emily Post hold in mentions of sex trafficking , intimate assault , and child contumely .
1.In it:Marisol Nichols
TheRiverdalestar said in the Q&A on herold websitethat she was introduced to Scientology in the 1990s by her chiropractor, who took her on a tour at the Celebrity Centre in Hollywood. Since then, Nichols has repeatedly praised and defended Scientology, crediting it for her career success and getting through trauma and drug problems after she was sexually assaulted as a child. “Honestly, Scientology is what saved my freaking ass,” she toldMarie Claire. “I’d probably be dead.”
2.Left: Lisa Marie Presley
Elvis Presleyhadreportedlybeen courted by Scientology, but never joined. When he died, his wife Priscilla said she found some Scientology books among his personal possessions. Priscilla said she reached out toJohn Travolta, who sent along a recruiter, and thereafter, both Priscilla and her daughter Lisa Marie Presley became Scientologists.
3.In it: Erika Christensen
On anepisodeof the podcastArmchair Expert, Christensen told herParenthoodco-starDax Shepardthat she was raised as a Scientologist because her parents — who also home-schooled her — were in the organization. She clarified that she never felt pressured, saying that her parents told her to “check it out” as opposed to making Scientology a must-do. In the same interview, she defended the organization against the documentaryGoing Clear, saying that some of the people featured in the doc were “irrelevant.”
4.Left:Jeffrey Tambor
TheArrested DevelopmentandTransparentstarrevealedin his memoir that he took Scientology classes for two years, but abruptly split with the organization after he was allegedly pressured to leave his second wife. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2017, Tambor said he had “no hard feelings” against Scientology, clarifying, “I don’t think hard feelings help anything.”
5.In it: Jason Dohring
Dohring, best known for his role as Logan onVeronica Mars, is alifelong Scientologist. Dohring’s father, Doug Dohring, was also a Scientologist and raised Jason in the organization. Fun fact: Doug Dohring founded Neopets, Inc., having bought the Neopets side in 1999 and selling it in 2005.
6.Left: Jerry Seinfeld
Seinfeld was never officially a member of the organization, but he did explain on theWTF With Marc Maronpodcast that he took a course way back in the day. “I did do a course in Scientology in, like, ‘75,” Seinfeldsaid. While he didn’t pursue things further, he did say that he “found it very interesting” and got some positives out of the class, like communication skills.
7.In it: Michael Peña
Peña — who has a long list of credits includingEnd of WatchandAnt-Man— says he first joined Scientology because he feared he was drinking too much, and there was a program called Purification Rundown that helped him quit drinking. He also says that one of their other programs made him “a better actor” by helping with his “understanding of scripts.” When asked bythe Guardianabout the organization’s many controversies, Peña replied, “I don’t read that stuff.”
8.Left: Laura Prepon
Prepon joined Scientology around 1999, and was still in the organization when she joined the cast ofOrange Is the New Black. However, she revealed in a 2021 interview withPeoplethat she is “no longer practicing Scientology,” and hadn’t been for about five years, meaning she quit sometime around 2016. Previously she had been vocal about praising the organization, but after leaving she spoke about it very little, which upset fellow former ScientologistLeah Remini, who has gone so far as to file alawsuitagainst the organization, alleging harassment.
9.In it: Elisabeth Moss
Moss — perhaps most famous for her role inThe Handmaid’s Tale— has been a Scientologist since before she was even a teenager. However, she doesn’t speak about it much publicly. In an interview with theNew Yorker, she opened up a bit, talking about the ways she feels Scientology is “misunderstood” or wrongly perceived. “It’s not really a closed-off religion,” Moss said. “It’s a place that is very open to, like, welcoming in somebody who wants to learn more about it.”
10.Left: Katie Holmes
Holmes famouslyfiled for divorcefrom Scientology’s poster boy, Tom Cruise, back in 2012. According tocourt testimonyfrom Cruise, Holmes left the relationship in part to “protect” daughter Suri from Scientology. It’s unclear how involved Holmes was in Scientology during her marriage to Cruise, but simply by association, it’s likely she was somewhat embedded.
11.In it: Juliette Lewis
In 2010, Lewis spoke withVanity Fairabout Scientology and said that she was a practicing Scientologist. Her father, Geoffrey Lewis, was also a Scientologist, so she was born into the religion. She appears to still be affiliated with the organization today.
12.Left: Nicole Kidman
Like Katie Holmes, Kidman was affiliated with Scientology because of her marriage to Tom Cruise. Journalist Tony Ortegaclaimedthat he spoke with Bruce Hines, Kidman’s “auditor” in the church, and that Hines said Kidman took many classes and quickly ascended the ranks of the organization’s spiritual ladder. But when Kidman split with Cruise, she stopped practicing Scientology, while her and Cruise’s children, Connor and Bella, continued to.
13.In it: Kirstie Alley
Alley was one of the moreoutspokencelebrity Scientologists up until her death in 2022 at the age of 71. She frequently used Twitter and interviews to feud with Leah Remini over the organization and defend fellow Scientologists. For example, when former Scientologist Paul Haggis was facing sexual assault allegations, shetweeted, “Another one bites the dust…karma is a bitch,” but took a different approach when Scientologist Danny Masterson was accused of sexual assault, saying shebelievedin “innocent until proven guilty.”
14.Left: Jason Lee
TheMy Name Is Earlstar had been a practicing Scientologist since the ’90s, and his ex-wife Carmen Llywelyn evenclaimedthat the religion was a major cause of their split. However, in a 2016 interview with a local paper in Denton, Texas (where Lee and his family moved), he revealed that he wasn’t a practicing Scientologist anymore. “Being that we don’t practice Scientology, and that we aren’t particularly interested in opening religious centers in general, we have no plans to open a Scientology center,” he said, when asked if he planned on starting a business in Denton.
15.In it: Giovanni Ribisi
Ribisi was raised by Scientologist parents, so he’s been a Scientologist all his life. When asked about it, hetoldtheJim and Sam Show, “It’s a personal thing; it’s something that works for me, and I think it’s that simple.”
16.Left: Christopher Reeve
The lateSupermanactorrevealedin his memoir that he did some “auditing” and took some Scientology courses when he was younger. However, he said that one class “completely devalued” his faith in the process. The class was supposed to bring up memories of his past lives, but Reeve basically re-told a story from Greek mythology and passed it off as his own past life experience, and, in his words, “got away with a blatant fabrication.”
17.In it: Jenna Elfman
In an interview withUs Weekly, Elfman called the controversy around Scientology — recently intensified by Leah Remini’s book and the HBO documentaryGoing Clear— “boring.” Elfman told the magazine, “I know what I know, and how much it helps me … I think that anything that works tends to get attacked.”
18.Left: Mimi Rogers
Rogers’ father was a friend of L. Ron Hubbard’s, so she joined Scientology at an early age. Tom Cruise joined the organization after marrying Rogers, so it seems as though she was the reason he became a Scientologist in the first place. However, after her split with Cruise, Rogersleft Scientology.
19.In it: Ethan Suplee
Suplee is married to Juliette Lewis’s sister, Brandy Lewis, and was one of several people involved inMy Name Is Earlwho were involved with Scientology. Suplee is very quiet about his religion, so it’s hard to tell just how devoted he is (or if he is still a Scientologist today), but he wasreportedto be in the organization back in theEarldays.
20.Left: Beck
Beck’s relationship with Scientology is a bit contradictory if you go by what he’s said in the past. His fatherwas a Scientologist, and in the early 2000s, Beck married Giovanni Ribisi’s twin sister, Marissa Ribisi, who is an active member of the church. During that time, Beck claimed that he was also a Scientologist. However, after his divorce from Ribisi about four years ago, Beck said, “I think there’s a misconception that I am a Scientologist. I’m not a Scientologist. I don’t have any connection or affiliation with it.” It would appear that Beck either never was a Scientologist but was keeping up appearances since his wife was one, or was a Scientologist while he was married but left the religion sometime around his divorce.
21.In it: John Travolta
Although there werereportsback in 2009 that Travolta might be leaving Scientology, he remains one of the most famous celebrities in the church today. Travolta was introduced to Scientology back in 1975 by one of his co-stars onThe Devil’s Rain, andtoldKevin Hart on Hart’s podcast, “At that moment it worked for me, and it still works for me.”
22.Left: Neil Gaiman
While it seems like Gaiman himself never actively practiced Scientology, he did grow up in a very Scientologist household. TheGood Omensauthor’s father was the British spokesperson for the organization, and it’s beenreported— but not confirmed — that his ex-wife and sisters are members. However, Gaiman has outright denied that he is a Scientologist, so it may be that he never practiced, but just grew up surrounded by it. In any case, it’s probably fair to say that Gaiman “left” Scientology, as many others on this list who grew up with parents in the church were also involved themselves.
23.In it: Nancy Cartwright
Cartwright — the longtime voice of Bart Simpson — has been an avid Scientologist for decades. She recently spoke to theAssociated Pressabout the organization after theGoing Clearbook was published, saying, “I don’t know what to tell you… It’s called prejudice.”
24.Left: Sharon Stone
Stonereportedlyjoined Scientology in the mid-90s, but theBasic Instinctstarconverted to Buddhismlater after meeting the Dalai Lama. The timeline is a little unclear, but it seems like Stone probably wasn’t a Scientologist for more than 5 to 8 years.
25.In it: Danny Masterson
The Church of Scientology was tied to thesexual assaultcase against Masterson, as the civil and criminal complaints he was facing were from women who were also members of the church of Scientology. In 2023, Masterson wasfound guiltyof two counts of rape and sentenced to 30 years to life in prison. It is unknown how involved Masterson can be in Scientology while in prison, but the organization has been known to send representatives to prisons as part of theirCriminon"betterment" program.
26.Left: Leah Remini
Remini may be the most outspoken former Scientologist, as she has published a book and made anEmmy-winning docuseriesabout her escape from the church, which she — in no uncertain terms — calls a “cult.” Remini has been pushing for the organization to lose its tax-exempt status, and for some high-level members to face prison time. “There are lawsuits and I think they’re going to lose in the courts. They’ll have to pay for their sins,” she toldTHR. “I believe that with every piece of me.”
27.In it: Tom Cruise
I mean, you probably know the deal here. Tom Cruise is one of the highest-ranking members of the organization and in many ways may be the lynchpin of Scientology’s pull in Hollywood. He has defended the church many times in past interviews, evencallingpsychiatry a “pseudoscience” in one of them. Seth Rogen, in his memoir,Yearbook, recounted a story when he and Judd Apatow met with Cruise about a project, and Cruise attempted to talk them into joining the religion. At this point, Cruise’s name is practically synonymous with Scientology.
If you or someone you know has experienced intimate assault , you’re able to call theNational Sexual Assault Hotlineat 1 - 800 - 656 - 4673 ( HOPE ) , which routes the caller to their nearest intimate rape service supplier . you could also look for your local centerhere .
If you are concerned that a minor is go through or may be in risk of abuse , you could call or text theNational Child Abuse Hotlineat 1 - 800 - 422 - 4453 ( 4.A.CHILD ) ; service can be provided in over 140 languages .
