Will Smith Scientology Rumors
From WhatRumors: The Celebrity Gossip Wiki
Superstar Will Smith's friendship with Tom Cruise went from being something the public thought was cute to something that launched a thousand rumors. The more the two appeared together, the more rumors built up that Tom's friendship with Will was just a way to recruit/brainwash Will into joining The Church of Scientology.
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He tried it; did he like it?
A Mens Vogue interview Will did in November 2007 furthered rumors of his involvement in the controversial church. The interview, which Will was hoping to quiet the talk down about his connection to his BFF's church, only made things worse. He admitted to studying Scientology with Tom but that he was still a Christian man because his grandmother would kill him for being anything other than that. He tried comparing Christianity and other religions to Scientology but with the controversial image the church has, he did nothing but fuel the fires. Despite his protests otherwise, many took the interview to just be nothing more than an attempt by Will to help out Tom's public image after the career-damaging couch jump he did on Oprah the year earlier.
Seriously, we're just good friends
In a March 2008 article in Radar magazine, an in-depth study was done about the Church of Scientology and Tom Cruise. The article mentioned that Tom and his wife Katie Holmes were friends with Will's family and suggested that Tom's motives for the friendship might not be what they seemed. Radar implied that while Will and Tom were friends, the reason their friendship has been in the public more is to expand the church's influence into African American culture after the opening of a church in Harlem. Rather than hang with Will because he's a super awesome best friend, the article implied the real reason Tom was Will's friend was to make sure the Church was accepted by skeptics and cool kids in the African American community.
When the Radar story hit, Will decided to speak to gossip columnists Rush and Malloy about the situation. He denied involvement in the church and offered up his own thoughts on religion.
| —Will Smith speaking to Rush and Malloy |
Doubters, and there are many, took notice that Will donated over $20,000 dollars to one Scientology group and that there rumors of free E-meter reading giftcards being given out on the set of Will's summer 2008 flick Hancock.
If Oprah can do it, so can Will
Plans that Will and wife Jada Pinkett Smith were going to help fund a school in California were made public in June 2008 with the school opening in September 2008. Again, what could have been a major media positive immediately turned against Smith. Why? Information about the school showed that many of the teachers were Scientologists. With the school going to have 80% of its students attending via a grant program, media outlets openly asked: Is this school nothing but a recruiting front for The Church of Scientology? Will, Jada, and the head of the school went on the offensive immediately and issued statements to every media outlet available. They admitted the school uses one of the methods dreamed up by the creator of Scientology L. Ron Hubbard called "study technology" which is a intelligent name given to a simple concept: When you are learning something new, you don't continue with your lesson if you don't understand the idea behind it while using hands-on learning instead of relying on study material. What sounds like common sense technique becomes something much more sinister in the minds of millions when the word "Scientology" is associated with the concept. Fearing the fallout that follows anything related to the Church of Scientology, the school made sure to mention the other study concepts taught at the school that have absolutely nothing to do with the church.
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