Given its religious obsession with rich and famous converts, the Church of Scientology must be kicking itself for selling out the king of sitcoms cheaply.
The numerous documentaries and documentary series featuring testimonies from former Scientologists paint a poignant picture of what former members of the secret religious organization experience after leaving Scientology. In To Be Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Leah Remini: Scientology and its consequencesand that of Louis Theroux My Scientology movieMany former (and often famous) Scientologists claim that the Church has harassed, monitored, and hounded them under the organization’s notorious “fair game” doctrine since their change of faith.
Then there’s prolific television hitmaker Chuck Lorre, who, after spending a decade in the church as a struggling and gullible young musician, left the organization without issue aside from a few dirty looks on his way out. Lorre opened up about his incredibly smooth exit from Scientology in his new book, Sitcom: A Memoirclaiming he was only allowed to leave quietly because at the time he was “broke”.
Maybe Shelly Miscavige should have racked up some credit card debt while she still had the chance.
In an extract from Sitcom: A Memoir obtained by VarietyLorre explained how, during a difficult time in his early career, he turned to Scientology in hopes of receiving some miracles. After attending a Scientology event, the future creator of The Big Bang Theory signed a billion-year employment contract with Sea Org, and when hardship hit him and his family, he had complete faith that his new religion would lead them to salvation.
Lorre wrote that when his father Robert was on his deathbed, “I actually thought I could cure him with Scientology.” Soon after, Lorre himself began to suffer from increasingly severe ulcerative colitis, but he and his father’s poor health did not immediately dissuade him from his faith in the Church. “No worries, Scientology would cure me,” recalls believer Lorre.
However, Lorre and his then-wife, Paula Smith, eventually lost faith in Scientology’s ability to bring them the blessings they expected, and when the couple finally left the organization, they immediately lost every friend they had ever had in the church. Even so, Lorre noted that neither he nor his partner ever experienced the extreme harassment that countless other former Scientologists claim to have suffered after defecting, and he attributes the lack of stalking to his missing checkbook.
“The Church has been known to chase away members who leave, begging and/or threatening them to return,” Lorre writes in Sitcom: A Memoir. “Turns out this is only true if the thetans who leave have money. We were so broke that no one noticed we left.”
Until now, Lorre has remained silent about his early experiences with Scientology, but not for the reasons that drove so many other former members into hiding. “It’s always been a great source of embarrassment to me,” Lorre admitted. Variety“I burned a decade of my life on this thing. I can wallow in regret, but I chose to recognize that even that was a step that had to be taken to get to where I am.”
However, Lorre admitted, his newfound honesty about his Scientology experiences could still land him in trouble decades after his successful Irish farewell, given that he has about a billion years left on his contract, give or take. “If there’s a knock on the door, I’ll let you know,” he joked. Varietyspeaking about his time on Scientology in Sitcom: A Memoir“As I wrote this, I asked myself, ‘Am I making myself responsible here?'”
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