Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith Leave Church of Scientology
News has emerged Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith have allegedly left the Church of Scientology, recouping a total of $1.2 million in the process.
According to tax records, the American husband and wife actors claimed the refund after one of the schools run by the church closed two years ago. The Will Smith Foundation earlier donated an undisclosed amount to the New Village Leadership Academy, a Scientologist-friendly school in Los Angeles in 2008.
Apart from the school donation, Smith and Pinkett-Smith have reportedly made donations amounting to $70,000 for various Scientology-related projects under the name of the Will Smith Foundation, tax documents show.
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The Will Smith Foundation appears not to have sent any financial support to the Church of Scientology in the last two years.
The allegations the couple have parted ways with the notorious religious institution were confirmed when former Scientology senior executive Mike Rinder said that the couple are not members of the church.
Smith, 46, who was raised as a Baptist, said fellow A-list actor Tom Cruise introduced him to Scientology. He claimed in an Access Hollywood interview that the ideas he found in the Bible are 98 percent the same ideas the Church of Scientology teaches.
Smith further defended Cruise, who had been publicly criticized for his strong stance on Scientology, accusing critics of attacking a religion they did not understand.
Meanwhile, rumors have surfaced Cruise is also leaving the Church of Scientology after it was alleged he was under pressure from the church not to get close to his daughter, Suri, 9, with ex-wife, Katie Holmes. Holmes, who has primary custody, decided earlier not to raise their daughter based on tenets of the church.
