John Travolta Defends Scientology In New Interview, Says He Hasn't Seen Going Clear
Posted on Tue Apr 7th, 2015 6:45am PDT By X17 Staff
John Travolta chatted with the Tampa Bay Times, and he opens up about his involvement in Scientology -- and his thoughts on the new documentary on the religion, HBO's Going Clear.
When asked if he's seen the film, in which he's featured quite a bit, Travolta said, "No, I haven't, and I don't really care to." Travolta continued, "I've been so happy with my experience in the last 40 years that I really don't have anything to say that would shed light on [a documentary] so decidedly negative." The actor believes that the movie was made by "people who were disgruntled with their experiences," adding that the church "has been nothing but brilliant for me."
On why he's never spoken out against the church, Travolta states:
Travolta and fellow celeb Scientologist Tom Cruise were slammed for not speaking out against the church, with filmmaker Alex Gibney boldly stating to Variety, "By now there is a well-documented record of abuses in the Church of Scientology, yet Cruise and Travolta have never spoken out about them. By not speaking out, it's a kind of an endorsement."
The Church of Scientology has made it clear that they're pretty upset with the docu, issuing yet another statement after initially speaking out against the film ahead of it's March 29 release:
When asked if he's seen the film, in which he's featured quite a bit, Travolta said, "No, I haven't, and I don't really care to." Travolta continued, "I've been so happy with my experience in the last 40 years that I really don't have anything to say that would shed light on [a documentary] so decidedly negative." The actor believes that the movie was made by "people who were disgruntled with their experiences," adding that the church "has been nothing but brilliant for me."
On why he's never spoken out against the church, Travolta states:
- "I haven't experienced anything that the hearsay has [claimed], so why would I communicate something that wasn't true for me? It wouldn't make sense, nor would it for Tom, I imagine. I've been brought through storms that were insurmountable, and [Scientology has] been so beautiful for me, that I can't even imagine attacking it. I've helped so many people through hard times -- loss of children, loved ones, physical illnesses. Through many tough, tough life situations I've used the technology to support them and help them. It's always worked... So, why would I even approach a negative perspective? That would be a crime to me, personally, to do that."
Travolta and fellow celeb Scientologist Tom Cruise were slammed for not speaking out against the church, with filmmaker Alex Gibney boldly stating to Variety, "By now there is a well-documented record of abuses in the Church of Scientology, yet Cruise and Travolta have never spoken out about them. By not speaking out, it's a kind of an endorsement."
The Church of Scientology has made it clear that they're pretty upset with the docu, issuing yet another statement after initially speaking out against the film ahead of it's March 29 release:
- "As the Church of Scientology stated in its New York Times ad of January 16, free speech is not a free pass to broadcast or publish false information. More than two years after Alex Gibney, Lawrence Wright and HBO started secretly working on their film glorifying admitted liars expelled as long as three decades ago from the Church, the one-sided result is as dishonest as Gibney’s sources... Wright and Gibney cherry-picked expelled, discredited former Scientologists who would help them advance their propaganda. What was portrayed as a nonfiction book, and now a film, are both transparent vehicles for their vendettas against all religion and people of faith. None of the discredited sources represent the Scientology religion... The millions of parishioners worldwide who do represent it were intentionally ignored."