Prior to the Emmy Awards Sunday night, some critics and fans wondered whether Elisabeth Moss’ membership in the controversial Church of Scientology would hurt her chances to win the leading actress honor for her extraordinary performance in “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
It turns out that Emmy voters weren’t concerned, and they gave her the Emmy. Still, the questions came in part because Moss was playing a woman enslaved by a dystopian future America run by a totalitarian religious government.
Scientology, in which Moss was raised by her parents, is less known for its good works and more for unflattering news stories, books and documentaries. Numerous investigative journalists and former members have portrayed it to be a repressive, cult-like movement that they say is driven by profit as it engages in fraud and extortion and in the emotional, physical and even sexual abuse of members who aren’t rich celebrities like Moss.
Moreover, one of those defectors is “King of Queens” actress Leah Remini who has has become an outspoken crusader against the Church since leaving in 2013. Remini, 47, has also won acclaim, as well as a brand-new Emmy herself, for her A&E documentary series “Scientology and the Aftermath,” which investigates the Church and its alleged harmful practices.
Remini wants the FBI and other federal and state agencies to investigate Scientology. As part of her crusade, she has been calling out some of its high-profile members like Tom Cruise and, more recently, Moss to address the organization’s practices.
Over the weekend, she also made things uncomfortable for Jada PInkett Smith by claiming she is a Scientology member — which Pinkett Smith emphatically denied.
Remini’s statements about Moss and Pinkett Smith have generated headlines around the two stars, and it’s not clear what if any long-term effect her statements will have on either their careers, their public attitudes about Scientology or about Scientology’s reputation. But Remini has opened the proverbial Pandora’s box, and it’s not likely that questions about any celebrity’s reported connection to Scientology will recede into the background of their careers anytime soon.
As Moss did media tours to successfully promote the Emmy chances of herself and of “The Handmaid’s Tale, she had to answer some reporters’ questions about being in the Church. Up until recently, Moss didn’t have to answer such questions because she wasn’t widely known to be a member — unlike Cruise, John Travolta or Kirstie Alley, whose associations have generated plenty of public intrigue and vitriol over the years.
The recent scrutiny on Moss is in large part due to Remini, who said in an interview in August that the former “Mad Men” star wouldn’t be able to talk to her because the Church holds that defectors are “Suppressive Persons,” or antisocial personalities whose presence threatens their well-being.
Fans of “Handmaids Tale” filled Moss’ social media feed with questions about her being a Scientologist. Some drew parallels between the sexual slavery depicted in “Handmaid’s Tale” and claims by some female Scientology defectors that they were victims of sexual abuse as young girls.
Moss also brought attention to her membership when she tried to defend Scientology in a since-deleted Instagram response to a fan, saying “religious freedom” and “understanding the truth” were very important to her. She also reportedly walked out when Remini was accepting an award for her documentary from the Television Critics Association in August.
But going into Sunday night’s awards show, Moss seemed confident that her membership wouldn’t be a factor in whether she won the Emmy or not.
In an interview on the Today show, which aired Sunday morning, host Willie Geist observed that Scientology hasn’t seemed to have affected Moss’ Hollywood career. Moss’ nomination for “Handmaid’s Tale” was her ninth. She became a critical darling by playing pioneering 1960s career woman Peggy Olson in “Mad Men” and for her turn as a New Zealand detective in “Top of the Lake.”
“I feel like I’ve done OK,” Moss said.
She added she’s happy to have personal conversations with people about Scientology. But she said she tries to avoid talk about it in interviews because she wants the focus to be on her work, not on her personal life.
As it turns out, Moss was right to be confident because she won. But that doesn’t mean Moss won’t be pressed again to publicly address Scientology, especially when she goes out to promote Season 2 of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which is due out in April 2018.
Meanwhile, things didn’t go so pleasantly over the weekend for Pinkett Smith, wife of Will Smith.
In an interview with the Daily Beast published Saturday, Remini said she had seen Pinkett Smith at the Church’s Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles multiple times. “I know Jada’s in. She’s been in Scientology a long time,” said Remini.
While Remini said she had never seen Will Smith at the Centre, she claimed the couple provided most of the funding for a since-shuttered “Scientology school” in the tony neighborhood of Calabasas. While the Smiths insisted their school was secular, many of its staff were Scientologists and its main teaching methodology, known as “Study Technology,” was based on the teachings of Scientology and “Dianetics” founder L. Ron Hubbard.
The “Girls Trip” star was alarmed enough about Remini’s Daily Beast interview that she took to Facebook on Tuesday to deny she’s a member.
“I recently lit Shabbat candles with Rabbi Bentley at Temple Sinai… but I am not Jewish,” Pinkett Smith wrote, without mentioning Remini by name. “I have prayed in mosques all over the world… but I am not a Muslim; I have read the Bhagavad Gita… but I am not a Hindu; I have chanted and meditated in some of the most magnificent temples on earth… but I am not a Buddhist; and I have studied Dianetics, and appreciate the merits of Study Tech… but I am not a Scientologist.”
While many of Pinkett Smith’s Facebook followers applauded her for showing appreciation for aspects of different religions, others still doubted how someone who has reportedly donated thousands or millions or dollars to the Church or to a Scientology school could claim she’s not part of the movement.
They also demanded she offer a view on the Church’s alleged abuses.
“I had no idea that Scientology stands for and practices human kindness!” wrote one in response. “Since you are making it public via social media, I’m interested to know your thoughts on the hate sites they create, smear campaigns, disconnection, abuse allegations, harassment that has been caught on video and the testimony of the many lives that have been torn apart by Scientology. Since you’ve “studied” it and all. Enlighten us, please!”
