'Everything in Scientology Based on Logic' Actor Danny Masterson Says; Criticizes Upcoming HBO Documentary
"That '70s Show" star Danny Masterson has spoken out to defend Scientology against claims being made in the upcoming documentary "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief."
Masterson described the film as "the documentary where they interviewed eight people who hate Scientology. Everything in Scientology is just based on logic." He then went on to note that the author of the book by the same name was published in the United States alone.
"When I looked into it, I noticed that he couldn't publish that book in Canada or the U.K. because the libel laws are so much stricter than ours. And so when I asked about it, they're like, 'Oh yeah, there's basically like 200 lies in the book and so in England and in Canada he couldn't even publish that book.' Anyone can say anything about anything. How true it is—I guess that's up to the reader," Masterson told Paper magazine.
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However, the film that will air on HBO has been vetted by several lawyers, Sheila Nevins, president of HBO documentary films told The Hollywood Reporter. Of course, it's not the first time that HBO has squared off with members of the Scientology community. In another instance, HBO aired a documentary entitled "Dead Blue: Surviving Depression," which showed anti-depressants in a positive light, counter to the Scientology teaching that medication is dangerous and unnecessary.
"I didn't see what they had to do with Scientology until I worked on that film, until I saw these people outside the building," Nevins said. "I thought they must be a union protest. But it was our film they were protesting. They're so anti-psychiatry, anti-medicine and anti-Freud. It was really quite interesting."
Masterson is not the only actor in Hollywood to practice Scientology. John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston, as well as Kirstie Alley and Tom Cruise, all attend the Church of Scientology and are very vocal about the controversial organization.
"Going Clear" airs on HBO on May 16.
