Jenna Elfman defends Scientology in new interview: ‘The controversy is boring’
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Jenna Elfman calls the controversy surrounding the Church of Scientology, of which she has been a member for 30 years, “boring.”
The Fear the Walking Dead actress, 48, made rare comments about the group — long the subject of investigations and skepticism — in an interview with Us Weekly.
“The controversy is boring,” she told the outlet. “It’s nothing to me. I know what I know, and how much it helps me.”
Elfman credited Scientology for helping her “stay grounded” amid her stardom, which was first achieved when she starred on Dharma & Greg in the late ’90s.
While Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Elisabeth Moss are some of the organization’s most famous faces, and users of its “Celebrity Centres,” Elfman has been a more public defender of the organization, which former member Leah Remini has been leading the charge against in recent years.
Elfman was asked about the controversy amid Remini’s docuseries Scientology and the Aftermath and the documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief in 2018 and she quickly issued a defense.
“Well, I’ve been a Scientologist for 28 years and that’s a huge part of what helps keep our [with husband of 25 years Bodhi Elfman] communication going in our relationship,” she told People.
“We’ve never cheated on each other, we’ve never broken up. We hang in there,” she continued. “Raising children, maintaining my sanity in a crazy world. Our world is crazy, it’s getting crazier, and Hollywood is the ne plus ultra of crazy.”
Elfman talked about various Scientology courses she’s taken and added, “I think that anything that works tends to get attacked.”
She also made a point to say she doesn’t focus on the negativity, noting, “I use it every single day of my life and it keeps me energized and vivacious and happy. I like literally have so much going on. Why am I going to go: ‘You know, let me put some negativity in my life. Let me go see who’s being a bigot.’”
Remini left Scientology in 2013 and has been using her platform to speak out against what she called an “extremist religion.” The organization has called her an “obnoxious, spiteful ex-Scientologist.”
In September, Remini concluded her docuseries after three seasons by interviewing two of Scientology member Danny Masterson’s rape accusers. The women are also Scientology defectors and, in their first in-depth interview, claimed that the actor and the Church of Scientology stalked and intimidated them after they filed reports about the rapes. The women are suing both Masterson and the Church of Scientology.
Masterson has maintained his innocence. The Church of Scientology called the lawsuit “baseless” and the claims “ludicrous and a sham.”
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