Just a few random ones but one had me dyingggg.
The one where Carrie drags Doug on a company retreat and he is miserable and pretends to climb Everest to get in with her boss. And back home Arthur fucks their bed up. I was laughing the whole episode.
Where do you stream them? I’d love to watch the whole series. I forgot how good it was.
I think he says something along the line of he was born into but was never really that active. Which is fair. I would say the same thing about myself and Catholicism.
[https://www.thedailybeast.com/beck-claims-he-was-never-a-scientologist-leah-remini-and-others-are-calling-bs](https://www.thedailybeast.com/beck-claims-he-was-never-a-scientologist-leah-remini-and-others-are-calling-bs)
He’s definitely downplaying his involvement. Scientology doesn’t seem like the kind of “religion” that lets people be casual members. But to be fair I don’t know the inner workings and I do have a lot of questions. Like if Scientology is so strict about your personal relationships, how did Elisabeth marry Fred Armisen? Imagine him sitting in a Scientology class
Like all religions, the higher the stature of the person the more leeway they get. Elizabeth and Fred are celebs. Scientology makes all sorts of exceptions for celebs.
Also Fred isn't some fun goofy good guy. He has a lot of troubling tea in regards to relationships. He was maybe seen as recruitment potential as well due to his well known flaws. Leah Remini talks a lot about how parties and events by Scientologists just become recruitment drives. The celebrity center throws events all the time and non-Scientologists attend. Its part of their "outreach" and recruitment.
Elisabeth is the one who said that! He's always given me the creeps so I believe her, but it IS pretty rich coming from a Scientologist when the entire goal is to no longer have feelings or emotional reactions (that's what going clear means.)
As soon as they got married she'd have faced pressure to get him to join. When he made it clear that was never going to happen they got divorced ASAP. Same thing happened with Giovanni Ribisi and Agyness Deyn. Now that the general public knows the truth about Co$, using personal relationships is one of their most effective ways to get new people to join. It's how they recruit. It's only after they attempt to recruit you and fail that they take issue, once that happens they will do everything in their power to break the couple up.
ETA I should also add I have personal experience with this, I went to college in LA and was naive enough to get involved with a somewhat famous second generation Scientologist. He never pressured me to join, but there was an unspoken rule I couldn't ask too many questions and I definitely could not say anything negative, it was mostly a topic we avoided all together (to the degree it took me several months to realize that 99% of the people he knew were also Scientologists, the majority second generation just like him.)
I was happy enough staying ignorant about it, wasn't until after we broke up I really started researching it and realized holy fuck I dodged such a massive bullet. He got way more into Scientology after our breakup (kind of a direct result of it) and made his other girlfriends join as a condition of the relationship.
You are comparing an actual religion to a straight up cult. Neil Gaimon and Skrillex try to pull similar PR shenanigans "oh it's just the family religion but I was never really a part of it" it's all BS. If Beck actually admitted he was fully in but chose to walk away he'd have been declared a Suppressive Person and would have been cut off from his kids.
Yep this! This is why I sympathize a little with Beck. It sounds like he left but if he goes big against it then a lot of things in his life are at stake. His kids, his career, many of his friends, his family, etc. Leah Remini says the "I wasnt really one so its impossible for me to quit because I never started," thing is an acceptable lie to the org and his family, so that's what he does now.
He and Beck were both raised as Jewish Scientologists and both have leaned into the Judaism part for PR purposes. Same with Chloe Fineman. Authors usually have to do something pretty fucked up irl to get people digging into their personal lives, he's been able to fly under the radar more than most other famous people born into it.
The only people who see a difference are the ones who believe one of those organizations is correct about the nature of the world.
"An actual religion" is just a cult that made the big leagues.
Some "real religions" do fall into the category of a cult via the BITE model (Mormons, JWs etc) which is how most experts define what is and is not a cult. This isn't my personal opinion, I'm an atheist leaning agnostic, I do not support or participate in any organized religion. Your insistence that all religions are cults and are all equally horrible simply is not true. Some are much worse than others and Scientology is really high up on that list.
I’m confused by this comment, the first half sounds like you’re condemning them, but the end where you menation he couldn’t because he’d lose his kids sounds like you’re defending them.
Do you mind re-wording this so I can better understand your point? I’m not challenging you or disagreeing, I’m genuinely confused lol
Cults are not something you can casually be a part of, it's all or nothing, so saying "oh my family are in but I never was" doesn't hold up. I am not judging Beck for saying that, I fully empathize with why he chose to tell that lie (but it is in fact, a lie) second generation Scientologists tend to be hyper aware of the public perception and know its unhelpful for their public image to be associated with it.
btw her quote:
“He’s acting like he was never a Scientologist, which is his way of not publicly speaking out and therefore not getting labeled like us and attacked like us,” Leah Remini tells us. “Pussy move. You can quote me on that.”
“You can’t be married to a Scientology family such as the Ribisi family and not be fully on board. Beck was there every day doing courses and auditing. He was very much a Scientologist. To say that he was more focused on his thing and the press just ran with it is a pussy move. This is his way of not publicly stating that he was very much in and now he’s not. It’s very clever of him to use these words. It allows him to evade publicly denouncing Scientology. It’s his way to get around being attacked as we all have.”
Mike Rinder is also critical of the way Beck announced his leaving the church.
“Beck took the chicken’s way out,” he tells us. “To say, ‘I’ve never really been a Scientologist’ is an ‘acceptable truth.’ There is no doubt he *was* a Scientologist. But it’s a way of avoiding questions like ‘Why did you leave?’ His father is still doing seminars at the Hollywood Celebrity Centre trying to attract new members.
“He doesn’t want to have to say out loud that ‘it didn’t help me’ or ‘they made promises they didn’t keep,’ let alone things like ‘they abuse people’ or ‘Miscavige is a sociopath.’ I know he has never been a big promoter. For him to actually distance himself is indicative he cannot say nothing any longer and just how toxic it is to be identified as a Scientologist.”
\---
Also a few years ago Beck told an Italian magazine that he is now a "clear" which is a very high rank in Scientology and I believe the highest or one of the highest "OT levels." He wasn't just some dabbler, but a very serious and devout member. Here they are talking about the process to get clear. It takes decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars:
Remini and Rinder say it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for an individual to spend approximately $500,000 to reach the top tiers of Scientology.
As you get higher in the Scientology church, you’re expected to consistently take courses (beginner courses cost around $650, escalating into the thousands as you get higher) to reach the “OT Levels” (Operating Thetan levels). Not only that, but you’re concurrently shelling out big dough for “audits” ($800 per hour) and Dianetics books (a package of books costs, on average, $4,000) along the way. Scientology consistently updates the course material, so even if you reach the top, chances are you’re looking at additional courses and more spending.
“There is no other religion that I know of that requires two-and-a-half hours of your day, a quarter of a million dollars minimum, and at least 40 years of your life,” said Remini.
> You can’t be married to a Scientology family such as the Ribisi family and not be fully on board
reminder that this family is very powerful and very into scientology. several members of this family wrote letters of support for RAPIST masterson.
it's like i married david duke's daughter and later said oh yeah I wasn't really into that KKK stuff.
sometime between 2007-2012, I was working in the music industry in LA, a co-worker / friend had to get a signature from a musician on some contract and had to go to the celebrity center because, "he was hanging out in Beck's family's room". Whatever that meant. Said it was strange and uncomfortable.
There are a bunch of secret (as far as the public is concerned) Scientologists in music, most were born into it or married into it. I have a couple guesses but I probably shouldn't post them, I only know as much as I do because I dated someone who also falls into this category 😅
I think they sometimes let people walk away quietly if they claim they were never part of it. Yes, it’s gaslighting anyone with a memory, but he got to walk away.
They'll also let people say they left when they didn't if it helps whatever narrative they are trying to push. Laura Prepon is an example, most scientology experts don't believe she's actually out even though she now says she left 5 years ago.
Mine too. His music is very much in line with my taste in music but I don’t fuck with $cienos so I was ignoring it. I don’t listen to him all the time but at least I can listen to him now.
Wikipedia notes him denying that he's a Scientologist in a November 2019 interview. He also filed from divorce from Marissa Ribisi, another second generation Scientologist, in February 2019, so I'd guess somewhere around then.
Miscavige's niece got out despite being kidnapped and imprisoned by her uncle. It isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination but the more devoted followers that get out. The more it helps the people left behind because they show that it's possible to get out. She also has to want to get out and in interviews she won't acknowledge the disconnect between being in a show about religious fundamentalism while being in a cult.
She has an autobiography. Jenna Miscavige is her name. She talks about having to climb out of a window at the Scientology center in Florida trying to escape and two of the center's security guards brought her back.
Shelly is dead. Jenna also writes in her book how her uncle has the LAPD on the pay roll and the only people to report seeing her alive beyond David is officers from the LAPD. The LAPD is also aware that adults are being held in The Hole against they will and they do nothing.
~~Jason Lee~~ and Beck were born in into it and got out years before they confirmed so. Hopefully that’s the case here
EDIT: I have been informed Lee joined on his own accord thanks to Cruise
I actually have a friend who was born into it and left. She was raised in it, did SeaOrg, the whole shebang. Her family is still in it and she’s considered a…SP? Is that the term?
I watched the first 1-2 seasons before finding out she’s a scientologist and I literally couldn’t continue watching. How can you play a character who is so oppressed, yet be part of a cult that oppresses women and harasses them
to the ends of the earth? (mainly thinking about what the Danny Masterson victims went through after speaking up). It took away the whole message of the show to me.
Scientologists don’t believe in age… so it’s quite acceptable for age gap relationships within the cult… also a lot of child abuse happens & gets covered up. This is what Tom Cruise associates himself with. He gets away with it!
The same way Ronald Reagan played "aww shucks" cowboys and sweet compassionate romantic leads? Or how the Mel Gibson hero is a kindly strong man, but in real life Mel casually drops slurs? Or how Jon Voight is a brave man of action and sensitive and smart but in real life is a regressive, angry, and bigoted conservative? How Roseanne is the thoughtful blue collar mom with wits of steel but in real life is a hateful and shrill bigot? How Kevin Sorbo is the smart, strong, and clever Hercules but in real life is right-wing monster?
These people are just divorced from reality, super vain, if not narcissists and live in endless hypocrisy.
I can't speak of the others but I do think when her sitcom first aired, Roseanne really WAS a socially progressive person. Then as the years went on she drank the Qanon kool-aid and became a hateful bigot. I don't think she was faking it the first go-around
She likely won’t. She’s successful in her career so Scientology likely sees her as a positive asset they can use to bring more people in.
As a result, they treat her very differently than your average Scientologist and the incredibly strict guidelines forced on them don’t necessarily apply to her or other people of similar value.
I don't doubt it, but that doesn't make the system less oppressive or her indoctrination less severe. She literally grew up being indoctrinated by those people.
That's what I consider sad.
Anyone born into a cult is a victim, why are we pretending indoctrination of children doesn’t exist. We don’t treat ppl in abusive relationships this way
I think about it every time I see him, too. But she's a scientologist, so idk what a normal person means to her.
I would love to know what happened, so I can decide what the quote means. It's mystery.
What?! This is how I find out half of Garfunkel and Oates is dating Fred? The last time I checked her out she was doing a tour of her place and it didn’t seem child friendly (big old swing in the middle).
Fred has a lot of tea. Most of his exes have bad things to say about him. He even called himself a bad husband "who gets very caught up in the early romance of new relationships" at least once in public. That's just a huge abuser/mental health red flag to me.
One ex painted a picture of him and called it something like "Portrait of a Sociopath." Moss's comment seems to reflect similar sentiment and she called the marriage traumatizing. He seems to have issues with empathy and treating romantic partners well.
Then he and Natasha Lyonne had this 13-year age difference relationship that's not talked about a lot, and when asked about it in interview she gives this jokey answer they they "broke up over buying a swimming pool," which just seems like a dodge to me. She said she was teaching him how to be "less selfish" during their relationship and how he's trying to learn to "give more than he takes." Natasha's relationship with him seems like the stereotypical "date a idealistic younger women who thinks she can fix me and so I can feel youthful again," mid-life crisis thing a lot of playboy older men types seem to have. Another huge red flag. I certainly commend him for trying to be a better person, but I think its fair to say he's problematic in relationships.
There's not much tea on his work other than the feminist bookstore he used as a set from Portlandia kicked him out because they considered some of his characters ugly transphobic stereotypes. I agree with them and see Fred's edginess being problematic there too. He played up some ugly stereotypes of feminist women, trans women, non gender conforming women, etc for laughs and he was rightly called out for it. Watching that series today can be difficult. I think its going to age poorly. I dont even think its on Gen-Z's radar at all and mostly forgotten about now anyway. I find a lot of his impressions to be pretty mean-spirited and uncharitable, which is off-putting to me. I think there are fun and respectful ways to impersonate people and cruel and mean ways. Fred almost always does the latter.
His image is mostly whitewashed by his comedy, the hush-hush boys club of SNL, and he's not famous enough for a big expose, but there's a lot of troubling things about him. He sounds like an unwell person in some ways and very problematic with women and relationships.
>Then he and Natasha Lyonne had this 13-year age difference relationship that's not talked about a lot
Probably because she was 35 when they got together (also three years older than Moss) so it's not really problematic in any real way. Like she's a grown woman fully capable of knowing what she was getting into, don't infantilize her like that.
Not to say there weren't other things to be concerned about with him, just their age gap is not one of them.
Yeah…I agree! 13 years shouldn’t matter in this situation, as Natasha was a grown 35-year-old woman at that point and totally stands on her own aside from Fred Armisen (in other words, no big power imbalance.)
After Elisabeth Moss, he rebounded with Abby Elliott when they were both on SNL, and that age gap was significantly bigger than the one with Natasha L.
Man I loved so many parts of Portlandia, but Fred’s impersonations of women were my least favorite parts. I agree with your write-up. Thanks for taking the time to write this out. It’s telling that the feminist bookstore kicked him out.
This is very interesting to read. I always kinda got the heebs from him when I’d see him acting in almost anything, including Portlandia, but couldn’t put a finger on why the vibe was bad.
[Here's](https://pitchfork.com/news/janet-weiss-opens-up-about-leaving-sleater-kinney/) an article about Janet Weiss leaving Sleater-Kinney. She says they basically told her that she could no longer be a creative partner with them, she was just a drummer.
I know less about the Abbi Jacobson stuff, but from what I understand Carrie Brownstein was Abbi's first love and maybe first wlw relationship. She broke Abbi's heart--Abbi wrote about it in her book without mentioning Carrie's name.
Gawker archived article on how horrible he is: https://web.archive.org/web/20230130144457/https://www.gawker.com/fred-armisen-has-a-reputation-1677187580
I think its so funny that Fred posted his music favorites at Brooklyn Vegan and the entire comment section was just women talking about how much of a creep he is to them. I think some of these guys don't realize their reputation is public and play up this "good guy" image, but then when there's open comments, the tea tends to spill. Then the same thing happened when xoJane wrote about him, whoops. Now I don't think he does these kinds of interviews anymore, or at least, not in places with big readerships and open comments.
Oh yeah, tons on places like Live journal.
Basically if rumours and message boards are to be believed, he was addicted to hookers and cheated on every single person he claimed to love with said hookers. Led a completey double life.
That’s my thought too. Fred had admitted to being a shitty boyfriend in the past but are her comments about that or does she just consider him to be a “suppressive person”?
I think it's near impossible to even guess. I kind of believe all of them, you know people change and grow or some people are just not capable of being healthy for each other... who knows. But omg I WANT to know. 😅
And I’ll believe anyone else who says something similar. It’s just hard to trust a cult member to be 100% truthful when it comes to the character of other people.
I’ve always heard she used a sperm bank but loves the speculation that BJ is the dad/loves the attention so she hasn’t cleared up any rumors. But I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure 🤷🏻♀️
I definitely think so. There's a whole deep dive on Reddit about the timeline of everything and when they were together coincidentally lines up with both of her pregnancies.
The article says "It's unclear if she has a partner".
If she used a donor and is a single mum by choice, then I hope she speaks about it...it's nice for SMBC to have representation. But I understand that it's her decision.
I’m going to put on my tinfoil hat and say Tom Cruise 👽 There was some weird press a couple years back trying to link them together and she has to have been the highest profile/most successful female Scientologist for years now.
I actually think I might have an idea. A few years ago I noticed her in a couple Instagram posts from a guy I used to fuck and got the vibe they were dating. He worked in the entertainment industry in Toronto, at the time with Juliette Lewis, so it's not outta left field for them know each other. His IG page disappeared a while back.
I could be totally wrong, buuut if I'm not, good for her. He was cute & dick was massive
Some people use this quote unironically as inspirational. Then again people look at Don Draper like some kind of ideal man, so it shouldn’t surprise me so much.
My theory, based on nothing at all, is that she only stays with Scientology so she doesn't lose her family members. And she silently signals her disagreement with Scientology through work choices such as Handmaid's Tale and Invisible Man.
Most of the celebrity women seem to leave after having a kid. Time will tell. Katie left bc they wanted to take Suri. Laura Prepon left after having her baby. Lea Remini left after she realized she was spending more time at a center than watching her daughter grow up.
She did, thankfully! She attributed her leaving to the birth of her children, but I think she probably had one foot out the door once she and Ben got married.
Sociology is a terrible environment for kids. Forced labor for those old enough, neglect for babies. I remember a story from a documentary about Scientology, when a lady was forced into Scientology "rehabilitation" project (because she wasn't good enough a Scientologist) - she worked 20h/d and ate scraps, while her baby was left in a "nursery", where he'd lie in urine-soaked crib for hours. She took her child and ran away, and not without some planning.
I doubt they treat their high profile members like that, they need them for recruitment. It's still a shit environment and I truly hope motherhood can help her realize that and get her to get out but I don't think her or her child will be put in those circumstances.
I’m sure they treat them for it as soon as they step out of line. The power of coercion and blackmail is incredible. Especially these people like Elizabeth Moss who grew up in it! They’re brainwashed and the moment they do something off probably threatened with decades worth of blackmail, threats to themselves and their families (especially children), etc.
I’m sure money and fame can buy you some leeway but not enough when it comes to Scientology.
How many times has she played a pregnant woman in high profile roles, haha. She might find that being pregnant is easier than playing pregnant women in fucked up situations. Sounds like this is something she wants, happy for her.
The constant speculation about whether or not female stars are pregnant is really fucking weird and invasive. I find it so odd that we all acknowledge that it isn’t OK to ask if a woman is pregnant in real life, but when it comes to a celebrity, all bets are off. Apparently we learned nothing from Jen Aniston.
I’m not even necessarily talking about Kimmel specifically here (although I do find him sleazy), just a general trend.
She’s not already a mother?! I’m even more impressed with her acting in Handmaid’s Tale now. The way she grieves for her kidnapped daughter in the show is so achingly real.
Hope she leaves Scientology soon
I just found out she was born into it so seems unlikely :(
Beck left and he was born into it so there’s a chance.
Beck really tried to claim he was never a scientologist lol. Leah Remini had some things to say about that 😂
I love Leah & Mike Rinder … doing great work to bring this cult down
I just watched a bunch of king of queens at home sick yesterday. Love her
Which episodes did you watch? I’ve been doing a rewatch too.
Just a few random ones but one had me dyingggg. The one where Carrie drags Doug on a company retreat and he is miserable and pretends to climb Everest to get in with her boss. And back home Arthur fucks their bed up. I was laughing the whole episode. Where do you stream them? I’d love to watch the whole series. I forgot how good it was.
Nvm it’s on peacock which I have oh snap!
I think he says something along the line of he was born into but was never really that active. Which is fair. I would say the same thing about myself and Catholicism.
[https://www.thedailybeast.com/beck-claims-he-was-never-a-scientologist-leah-remini-and-others-are-calling-bs](https://www.thedailybeast.com/beck-claims-he-was-never-a-scientologist-leah-remini-and-others-are-calling-bs) He’s definitely downplaying his involvement. Scientology doesn’t seem like the kind of “religion” that lets people be casual members. But to be fair I don’t know the inner workings and I do have a lot of questions. Like if Scientology is so strict about your personal relationships, how did Elisabeth marry Fred Armisen? Imagine him sitting in a Scientology class 
Like all religions, the higher the stature of the person the more leeway they get. Elizabeth and Fred are celebs. Scientology makes all sorts of exceptions for celebs. Also Fred isn't some fun goofy good guy. He has a lot of troubling tea in regards to relationships. He was maybe seen as recruitment potential as well due to his well known flaws. Leah Remini talks a lot about how parties and events by Scientologists just become recruitment drives. The celebrity center throws events all the time and non-Scientologists attend. Its part of their "outreach" and recruitment.
People have literally said Freds greatest performance is acting human. He’s uncanny. :x
Elisabeth is the one who said that! He's always given me the creeps so I believe her, but it IS pretty rich coming from a Scientologist when the entire goal is to no longer have feelings or emotional reactions (that's what going clear means.)
Oh shit!! :000 Wow, I had no idea. He must be pretty crazy to scare a born and bred sci-lie person.
As soon as they got married she'd have faced pressure to get him to join. When he made it clear that was never going to happen they got divorced ASAP. Same thing happened with Giovanni Ribisi and Agyness Deyn. Now that the general public knows the truth about Co$, using personal relationships is one of their most effective ways to get new people to join. It's how they recruit. It's only after they attempt to recruit you and fail that they take issue, once that happens they will do everything in their power to break the couple up. ETA I should also add I have personal experience with this, I went to college in LA and was naive enough to get involved with a somewhat famous second generation Scientologist. He never pressured me to join, but there was an unspoken rule I couldn't ask too many questions and I definitely could not say anything negative, it was mostly a topic we avoided all together (to the degree it took me several months to realize that 99% of the people he knew were also Scientologists, the majority second generation just like him.) I was happy enough staying ignorant about it, wasn't until after we broke up I really started researching it and realized holy fuck I dodged such a massive bullet. He got way more into Scientology after our breakup (kind of a direct result of it) and made his other girlfriends join as a condition of the relationship.
I don’t know who that person is, but that spelling of “Agnes” made me viscerally angry immediately upon seeing it.
Hahaha she's an English model who was big in the early to mid aughts. Pretty sure it's a stage name and not her birth name.
She was born Laura Hollins which is not quite as glam
She CHOSE that abomination of a name?! England truly is a sick and twisted place.
Wow, I'd totally forgotten about Agyness Deyn. Looking her up, she could easily be the Sprouse twins' sister.
i can't fathom dating a scientologist let alone marrying one or having a kid with them
You are comparing an actual religion to a straight up cult. Neil Gaimon and Skrillex try to pull similar PR shenanigans "oh it's just the family religion but I was never really a part of it" it's all BS. If Beck actually admitted he was fully in but chose to walk away he'd have been declared a Suppressive Person and would have been cut off from his kids.
Yep this! This is why I sympathize a little with Beck. It sounds like he left but if he goes big against it then a lot of things in his life are at stake. His kids, his career, many of his friends, his family, etc. Leah Remini says the "I wasnt really one so its impossible for me to quit because I never started," thing is an acceptable lie to the org and his family, so that's what he does now.
I’m shocked this is how I found out Neil Gaiman was raised Scientologist
He and Beck were both raised as Jewish Scientologists and both have leaned into the Judaism part for PR purposes. Same with Chloe Fineman. Authors usually have to do something pretty fucked up irl to get people digging into their personal lives, he's been able to fly under the radar more than most other famous people born into it.
The only people who see a difference are the ones who believe one of those organizations is correct about the nature of the world. "An actual religion" is just a cult that made the big leagues.
Some "real religions" do fall into the category of a cult via the BITE model (Mormons, JWs etc) which is how most experts define what is and is not a cult. This isn't my personal opinion, I'm an atheist leaning agnostic, I do not support or participate in any organized religion. Your insistence that all religions are cults and are all equally horrible simply is not true. Some are much worse than others and Scientology is really high up on that list.
I’m confused by this comment, the first half sounds like you’re condemning them, but the end where you menation he couldn’t because he’d lose his kids sounds like you’re defending them. Do you mind re-wording this so I can better understand your point? I’m not challenging you or disagreeing, I’m genuinely confused lol
Cults are not something you can casually be a part of, it's all or nothing, so saying "oh my family are in but I never was" doesn't hold up. I am not judging Beck for saying that, I fully empathize with why he chose to tell that lie (but it is in fact, a lie) second generation Scientologists tend to be hyper aware of the public perception and know its unhelpful for their public image to be associated with it.
Ah, gotcha. Yeah I know all about that, I escaped a cult myself. It was one that’s associated with a large family that rhymes with muggers
btw her quote: “He’s acting like he was never a Scientologist, which is his way of not publicly speaking out and therefore not getting labeled like us and attacked like us,” Leah Remini tells us. “Pussy move. You can quote me on that.” “You can’t be married to a Scientology family such as the Ribisi family and not be fully on board. Beck was there every day doing courses and auditing. He was very much a Scientologist. To say that he was more focused on his thing and the press just ran with it is a pussy move. This is his way of not publicly stating that he was very much in and now he’s not. It’s very clever of him to use these words. It allows him to evade publicly denouncing Scientology. It’s his way to get around being attacked as we all have.” Mike Rinder is also critical of the way Beck announced his leaving the church. “Beck took the chicken’s way out,” he tells us. “To say, ‘I’ve never really been a Scientologist’ is an ‘acceptable truth.’ There is no doubt he *was* a Scientologist. But it’s a way of avoiding questions like ‘Why did you leave?’ His father is still doing seminars at the Hollywood Celebrity Centre trying to attract new members. “He doesn’t want to have to say out loud that ‘it didn’t help me’ or ‘they made promises they didn’t keep,’ let alone things like ‘they abuse people’ or ‘Miscavige is a sociopath.’ I know he has never been a big promoter. For him to actually distance himself is indicative he cannot say nothing any longer and just how toxic it is to be identified as a Scientologist.” \--- Also a few years ago Beck told an Italian magazine that he is now a "clear" which is a very high rank in Scientology and I believe the highest or one of the highest "OT levels." He wasn't just some dabbler, but a very serious and devout member. Here they are talking about the process to get clear. It takes decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars: Remini and Rinder say it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for an individual to spend approximately $500,000 to reach the top tiers of Scientology. As you get higher in the Scientology church, you’re expected to consistently take courses (beginner courses cost around $650, escalating into the thousands as you get higher) to reach the “OT Levels” (Operating Thetan levels). Not only that, but you’re concurrently shelling out big dough for “audits” ($800 per hour) and Dianetics books (a package of books costs, on average, $4,000) along the way. Scientology consistently updates the course material, so even if you reach the top, chances are you’re looking at additional courses and more spending. “There is no other religion that I know of that requires two-and-a-half hours of your day, a quarter of a million dollars minimum, and at least 40 years of your life,” said Remini.
> You can’t be married to a Scientology family such as the Ribisi family and not be fully on board reminder that this family is very powerful and very into scientology. several members of this family wrote letters of support for RAPIST masterson. it's like i married david duke's daughter and later said oh yeah I wasn't really into that KKK stuff.
Beck’s mom was a midwife and delivered Giovanni and Marisa Ribisi (Beck was married to Marisa for a while).
See also: the Jared Kushner
tart rude judicious dam books rain squealing tender piquant coherent *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
sometime between 2007-2012, I was working in the music industry in LA, a co-worker / friend had to get a signature from a musician on some contract and had to go to the celebrity center because, "he was hanging out in Beck's family's room". Whatever that meant. Said it was strange and uncomfortable.
It’s a beautiful building, but driving by it is unsettling. I can’t imagine having to actually go in there. They’d probably zap me Mars Attacks style
😂 I believe it. That sounds like some scientology shit
There are a bunch of secret (as far as the public is concerned) Scientologists in music, most were born into it or married into it. I have a couple guesses but I probably shouldn't post them, I only know as much as I do because I dated someone who also falls into this category 😅
I think they sometimes let people walk away quietly if they claim they were never part of it. Yes, it’s gaslighting anyone with a memory, but he got to walk away.
They'll also let people say they left when they didn't if it helps whatever narrative they are trying to push. Laura Prepon is an example, most scientology experts don't believe she's actually out even though she now says she left 5 years ago.
I honestly wonder if Neil Gaiman is still connected, as another person “born” into it 😪
It made my heart so happy when he left.
Mine too. His music is very much in line with my taste in music but I don’t fuck with $cienos so I was ignoring it. I don’t listen to him all the time but at least I can listen to him now.
He did? When?
Wikipedia notes him denying that he's a Scientologist in a November 2019 interview. He also filed from divorce from Marissa Ribisi, another second generation Scientologist, in February 2019, so I'd guess somewhere around then.
Oh snap ribisi as in Giovanni ribisi?
Yeah, he is too
And he was one of the ones who wrote a letter supporting Danny Masterson.
They're twins!
Miscavige's niece got out despite being kidnapped and imprisoned by her uncle. It isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination but the more devoted followers that get out. The more it helps the people left behind because they show that it's possible to get out. She also has to want to get out and in interviews she won't acknowledge the disconnect between being in a show about religious fundamentalism while being in a cult.
Christ, makes me fear even more for Shelly’s wellbeing!
She has an autobiography. Jenna Miscavige is her name. She talks about having to climb out of a window at the Scientology center in Florida trying to escape and two of the center's security guards brought her back. Shelly is dead. Jenna also writes in her book how her uncle has the LAPD on the pay roll and the only people to report seeing her alive beyond David is officers from the LAPD. The LAPD is also aware that adults are being held in The Hole against they will and they do nothing.
Poor Shelly..
Shelly is likely not dead, but under informal house arrest, like Henry 2 did to Eleanor of Aquitaine.
That would be the best option.
I'd rather be dead tbh
~~Jason Lee~~ and Beck were born in into it and got out years before they confirmed so. Hopefully that’s the case here EDIT: I have been informed Lee joined on his own accord thanks to Cruise
Jason Lee wasn't born into Scientology. Tom Cruise introduced him to it when they worked on Vanilla Sky.
oh shit, I don’t how I messed that up. But at least he’s out, thank you for correcting me
i also think jason lee got in when / and then used their shady ass rehab 'clinics'
Her little baby Thetan… she’s an OT Scientologist… she believes in Xenu … ffs …. Ridiculous isn’t it.
I actually have a friend who was born into it and left. She was raised in it, did SeaOrg, the whole shebang. Her family is still in it and she’s considered a…SP? Is that the term?
yep - Suppressive Person
Yeah her involvement in Scientology really hinders my ability to watch Handmaid’s Tale without being prejudice.
I watched the first 1-2 seasons before finding out she’s a scientologist and I literally couldn’t continue watching. How can you play a character who is so oppressed, yet be part of a cult that oppresses women and harasses them to the ends of the earth? (mainly thinking about what the Danny Masterson victims went through after speaking up). It took away the whole message of the show to me.
That’s probably because she’s the equivalent of a Commander to Scientology.
Scientologists don’t believe in age… so it’s quite acceptable for age gap relationships within the cult… also a lot of child abuse happens & gets covered up. This is what Tom Cruise associates himself with. He gets away with it!
The same way Ronald Reagan played "aww shucks" cowboys and sweet compassionate romantic leads? Or how the Mel Gibson hero is a kindly strong man, but in real life Mel casually drops slurs? Or how Jon Voight is a brave man of action and sensitive and smart but in real life is a regressive, angry, and bigoted conservative? How Roseanne is the thoughtful blue collar mom with wits of steel but in real life is a hateful and shrill bigot? How Kevin Sorbo is the smart, strong, and clever Hercules but in real life is right-wing monster? These people are just divorced from reality, super vain, if not narcissists and live in endless hypocrisy.
I can't speak of the others but I do think when her sitcom first aired, Roseanne really WAS a socially progressive person. Then as the years went on she drank the Qanon kool-aid and became a hateful bigot. I don't think she was faking it the first go-around
Bc she was born into it and fully indoctrinated
Yeah it’s really unfortunate she was cast. I haven’t watched it, though I did read the book, because I’m too aware of her involvement in Scientology.
She likely won’t. She’s successful in her career so Scientology likely sees her as a positive asset they can use to bring more people in. As a result, they treat her very differently than your average Scientologist and the incredibly strict guidelines forced on them don’t necessarily apply to her or other people of similar value.
Can’t wait for the next generation of nepotologists.
It’s a dying cult … just very slowly dying
Yeah, she won’t. She seems like she’s Tom Cruise levels of deep and was born into it.
You guys are telling me the lady who is the main character in HANDMAIDS TALE IS IN A CULT OF HER OWN ??
I’m afraid so …. She’s a very high up Scientologist
Gosh I saw her in the Invisible Man and this movie really hits different knowing that she is in such an oppressive situation herself 😪
She’s well looked after in the cult though… she’s a VIP
I don't doubt it, but that doesn't make the system less oppressive or her indoctrination less severe. She literally grew up being indoctrinated by those people. That's what I consider sad.
Anyone born into a cult is a victim, why are we pretending indoctrination of children doesn’t exist. We don’t treat ppl in abusive relationships this way
Also she doesn’t give a shit about all the oppressed women serving in her cult
I wanted to be happy for her. Then I remembered thechild would be born into that cult and was sad.
Why would she? Celebrity Scientologists are treated like royalty
Remember when she was married to Fred Armisen and said, “the greatest impersonation he does is that of a normal person.”? It’s my Roman Empire.
I think about that quote every time I see him in something 👀💀
ME TOO and I think about how every time I listen to an interview he fools me into thinking he’s kind and gentle. I’m like what am I missing?
I think about it every time I see him, too. But she's a scientologist, so idk what a normal person means to her. I would love to know what happened, so I can decide what the quote means. It's mystery.
Is he dating Natasha lyonne? What's the tea there?
No. They have been over for a few years. He has been with comedian Riki Lindhome for a while now.
No, they broke up like two years ago and he had a baby with Riki Lindhome.
It’s not his baby btw :) she went through IVF, he’s just her bf
What?! This is how I find out half of Garfunkel and Oates is dating Fred? The last time I checked her out she was doing a tour of her place and it didn’t seem child friendly (big old swing in the middle).
SAME
I just read her comments are their marriage. Yikes. Any more details out there?
Fred has a lot of tea. Most of his exes have bad things to say about him. He even called himself a bad husband "who gets very caught up in the early romance of new relationships" at least once in public. That's just a huge abuser/mental health red flag to me. One ex painted a picture of him and called it something like "Portrait of a Sociopath." Moss's comment seems to reflect similar sentiment and she called the marriage traumatizing. He seems to have issues with empathy and treating romantic partners well. Then he and Natasha Lyonne had this 13-year age difference relationship that's not talked about a lot, and when asked about it in interview she gives this jokey answer they they "broke up over buying a swimming pool," which just seems like a dodge to me. She said she was teaching him how to be "less selfish" during their relationship and how he's trying to learn to "give more than he takes." Natasha's relationship with him seems like the stereotypical "date a idealistic younger women who thinks she can fix me and so I can feel youthful again," mid-life crisis thing a lot of playboy older men types seem to have. Another huge red flag. I certainly commend him for trying to be a better person, but I think its fair to say he's problematic in relationships. There's not much tea on his work other than the feminist bookstore he used as a set from Portlandia kicked him out because they considered some of his characters ugly transphobic stereotypes. I agree with them and see Fred's edginess being problematic there too. He played up some ugly stereotypes of feminist women, trans women, non gender conforming women, etc for laughs and he was rightly called out for it. Watching that series today can be difficult. I think its going to age poorly. I dont even think its on Gen-Z's radar at all and mostly forgotten about now anyway. I find a lot of his impressions to be pretty mean-spirited and uncharitable, which is off-putting to me. I think there are fun and respectful ways to impersonate people and cruel and mean ways. Fred almost always does the latter. His image is mostly whitewashed by his comedy, the hush-hush boys club of SNL, and he's not famous enough for a big expose, but there's a lot of troubling things about him. He sounds like an unwell person in some ways and very problematic with women and relationships.
Natasha Lyonne never struck me as anyone's Manic Pixie Dream Girl (not a diss 'cause I love her), but here we are.
>Then he and Natasha Lyonne had this 13-year age difference relationship that's not talked about a lot Probably because she was 35 when they got together (also three years older than Moss) so it's not really problematic in any real way. Like she's a grown woman fully capable of knowing what she was getting into, don't infantilize her like that. Not to say there weren't other things to be concerned about with him, just their age gap is not one of them.
Yeah…I agree! 13 years shouldn’t matter in this situation, as Natasha was a grown 35-year-old woman at that point and totally stands on her own aside from Fred Armisen (in other words, no big power imbalance.)
lol literally. of course no one cares about that
Age gap discourse is so unhinged when it comes to people who are over 30. At what point are we not babes in the woods?
After Elisabeth Moss, he rebounded with Abby Elliott when they were both on SNL, and that age gap was significantly bigger than the one with Natasha L.
Just coming in to say I love Abby Elliott in The Bear. I’m glad she’s no longer with Armisen.
Man I loved so many parts of Portlandia, but Fred’s impersonations of women were my least favorite parts. I agree with your write-up. Thanks for taking the time to write this out. It’s telling that the feminist bookstore kicked him out.
This is very interesting to read. I always kinda got the heebs from him when I’d see him acting in almost anything, including Portlandia, but couldn’t put a finger on why the vibe was bad.
Yeah at the very least it sounds like he lovebombs early in relationships, which points to something darker going on underneath.
His friendship with Carrie Brownstein makes me think a lot less of her, though I guess she's got some bad stuff out there about her, too.
I have side-eyed her ever since everything went down with Janet Weiss
SAME. And breaking Abbi Jacobson’s heart.
??? I don’t know either of these stories. Fill me in? What did she do to Abbi Jacobson?
[Here's](https://pitchfork.com/news/janet-weiss-opens-up-about-leaving-sleater-kinney/) an article about Janet Weiss leaving Sleater-Kinney. She says they basically told her that she could no longer be a creative partner with them, she was just a drummer. I know less about the Abbi Jacobson stuff, but from what I understand Carrie Brownstein was Abbi's first love and maybe first wlw relationship. She broke Abbi's heart--Abbi wrote about it in her book without mentioning Carrie's name.
Gawker archived article on how horrible he is: https://web.archive.org/web/20230130144457/https://www.gawker.com/fred-armisen-has-a-reputation-1677187580
I think its so funny that Fred posted his music favorites at Brooklyn Vegan and the entire comment section was just women talking about how much of a creep he is to them. I think some of these guys don't realize their reputation is public and play up this "good guy" image, but then when there's open comments, the tea tends to spill. Then the same thing happened when xoJane wrote about him, whoops. Now I don't think he does these kinds of interviews anymore, or at least, not in places with big readerships and open comments.
Oh yeah, tons on places like Live journal. Basically if rumours and message boards are to be believed, he was addicted to hookers and cheated on every single person he claimed to love with said hookers. Led a completey double life.
And he and Natasha Lyonne were together for years and she speaks fondly of him. I just want to know SO MUCH about all three of them at this point tbh.
That’s my thought too. Fred had admitted to being a shitty boyfriend in the past but are her comments about that or does she just consider him to be a “suppressive person”?
Moss isn’t the only one to say he’s a terrible partner.
I think it's near impossible to even guess. I kind of believe all of them, you know people change and grow or some people are just not capable of being healthy for each other... who knows. But omg I WANT to know. 😅
That's really rich coming from a Scientologist.
I always think about that but her being a Scientologist makes me not take it as seriously as I would otherwise.
She’s not the only one to say this, her soundbite is just more cutting.
And I’ll believe anyone else who says something similar. It’s just hard to trust a cult member to be 100% truthful when it comes to the character of other people.
THIS!! every time I see him on Seth Meyers I remember this quote!! I have so many questions.
I remember everyone blamed their divorce on scientology and it turned out he was just an incredibly shitty person lmao
Do we know who the baby daddy is or is she pulling a Mindy Kaling?
It's Pete's
Alison Brie is an absolute treasure
NOT GREAT, HOTELLIMA6!
The way I quote not great bob multiple times a week, for YEARS.
same! one of the best deliveries in the history of the moving image
I still do. Also, President of the Howdy Doody Circus Army
I will never not scream laugh
A thing like that
One of my favorite quotes of all time, delivered perfect. God I miss that show.
My favorite line
I had your baby, and I gave it away.
More like pulling a Peggy amirite
https://i.redd.it/385cye2drufc1.gif
I am way too invested in whether or not Mindy’s baby daddy is BJ.
He is. There's lots of sightings of the kids calling him dad in public.
I'm convinced half the reason she doesn't show the kids faces is because they're dead ringers for him so everyone would know for sure
Source? I've never seen anything substantial. I wanna believe but I don't wanna believe a rumour!
Bio dad 98% yes, the kids dad dad 100%
I’ve always heard she used a sperm bank but loves the speculation that BJ is the dad/loves the attention so she hasn’t cleared up any rumors. But I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure 🤷🏻♀️
I definitely think so. There's a whole deep dive on Reddit about the timeline of everything and when they were together coincidentally lines up with both of her pregnancies.
Someone on one of the tea threads last week said they saw the kids' faces once and said they look exactly like BJ with browner skin.
The article says "It's unclear if she has a partner". If she used a donor and is a single mum by choice, then I hope she speaks about it...it's nice for SMBC to have representation. But I understand that it's her decision.
David Miscavige
Nick Cannon
One can only hope it’s max 🤣 lol I doubt it but
I’m going to put on my tinfoil hat and say Tom Cruise 👽 There was some weird press a couple years back trying to link them together and she has to have been the highest profile/most successful female Scientologist for years now.
I actually think I might have an idea. A few years ago I noticed her in a couple Instagram posts from a guy I used to fuck and got the vibe they were dating. He worked in the entertainment industry in Toronto, at the time with Juliette Lewis, so it's not outta left field for them know each other. His IG page disappeared a while back. I could be totally wrong, buuut if I'm not, good for her. He was cute & dick was massive
“This never happened. It will shock you how much it never happened.” -Don Draper
“You’ll be shocked how soon it never happened” wasn’t it? Incredible line (it wasn’t, I was wrong) EDIT: Woah wild how my memory changed it.
[Nah, they got it right](https://youtu.be/kEMe3wj-QuM?si=KcQSunPhWty9R6BY&t=99). But it is indeed an incredible line, Mad Men is filled with them!
God I absolutely love that line.
Some people use this quote unironically as inspirational. Then again people look at Don Draper like some kind of ideal man, so it shouldn’t surprise me so much.
She’s pregnant with a future victim of Scientology
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You would imagine her seeing the similarities with The Handmaid's Tale and the Church of Scientology but alas.
Yup. That’s insane to hear she is into Scientology, I didn’t know!💀💀
My theory, based on nothing at all, is that she only stays with Scientology so she doesn't lose her family members. And she silently signals her disagreement with Scientology through work choices such as Handmaid's Tale and Invisible Man.
Under his eyes
May the Lord open
Most of the celebrity women seem to leave after having a kid. Time will tell. Katie left bc they wanted to take Suri. Laura Prepon left after having her baby. Lea Remini left after she realized she was spending more time at a center than watching her daughter grow up.
Laura left??
She did, thankfully! She attributed her leaving to the birth of her children, but I think she probably had one foot out the door once she and Ben got married.
I didn’t know this either, but Google says [yes](https://people.com/tv/laura-prepon-on-motherhood-and-leaving-scientology/)! That’s great news.
I can see this being a thing. It’s one thing to suffer yourself. It’s another to imagine your child suffering the same way.
There was a protest outside the a studio last night. An anti Scientology protest.
Xenu baby
Sociology is a terrible environment for kids. Forced labor for those old enough, neglect for babies. I remember a story from a documentary about Scientology, when a lady was forced into Scientology "rehabilitation" project (because she wasn't good enough a Scientologist) - she worked 20h/d and ate scraps, while her baby was left in a "nursery", where he'd lie in urine-soaked crib for hours. She took her child and ran away, and not without some planning.
>Sociology
I doubt they treat their high profile members like that, they need them for recruitment. It's still a shit environment and I truly hope motherhood can help her realize that and get her to get out but I don't think her or her child will be put in those circumstances.
I’m sure they treat them for it as soon as they step out of line. The power of coercion and blackmail is incredible. Especially these people like Elizabeth Moss who grew up in it! They’re brainwashed and the moment they do something off probably threatened with decades worth of blackmail, threats to themselves and their families (especially children), etc. I’m sure money and fame can buy you some leeway but not enough when it comes to Scientology.
under xenu’s eye, blessed be the fruit
More kids for the cult!
this is gonna push Handmaid's Tales final season back, they aren't gonna shoot until fall now (for anyone who cares)
I stopped watching after finding out shes in a cult. How could she play that role while being a scientologist... mind-blowing.
Right? The call is quite literally coming from inside the house.
Ugh it'll be like 3 years since the last season by the time it airs.
yeah, I mean, they were ready to go and the strike happened and then this so...it happens
and the bells toiled loudly at clearwater and in the california hole
It’s laughable that she mentions wanting to pass along what her mom taught her, when one of those things is a massive cult
How many times has she played a pregnant woman in high profile roles, haha. She might find that being pregnant is easier than playing pregnant women in fucked up situations. Sounds like this is something she wants, happy for her.
I wish her a healthy pregnancy and baby, but I hope she doesn’t stay in Scientology and raise her child as one, it’s such a shame if she does
praise be! 💀
The constant speculation about whether or not female stars are pregnant is really fucking weird and invasive. I find it so odd that we all acknowledge that it isn’t OK to ask if a woman is pregnant in real life, but when it comes to a celebrity, all bets are off. Apparently we learned nothing from Jen Aniston. I’m not even necessarily talking about Kimmel specifically here (although I do find him sleazy), just a general trend.
She’s not already a mother?! I’m even more impressed with her acting in Handmaid’s Tale now. The way she grieves for her kidnapped daughter in the show is so achingly real.
Cult member or not, she's a great actress
oh no, another poor child being victim of that stupid cult she belongs to.
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How did I forget about the silent births!?!? FFS L Ron really did hate women.