John Travolta, who was heavily featured in HBO's Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, has finally spoken out about the shocking documentary exposé. When asked by the Tampa Bay Times yesterday if he'd seen the film, he said, "No, I haven't, and I don't really care to." He thinks Scientology is "beautiful."
Travolta did not address specific claims put forth in Going Clear, like the assertion that the Church has trapped him by threatening to release secrets he revealed during private "auditing" sessions. He did say, however, that the documentary is a product of "people who were disgruntled with their experiences."
One of those people is Spanky Taylor, Travolta's ex-friend who says in Going Clear that Travolta did not help her get out of an abusive situation in the Church.
Travolta told the Times that he won't speak out against (alleged) abuses in Scientology, because he hasn't "experienced" them: "I haven't experienced anything that the hearsay has [claimed], so why would I communicate something that wasn't true for me? It wouldn't make sense, nor would it for Tom, I imagine."
That's Tom Cruise, of course, who once had a secret Scientology girlfriend, according to Going Clear.
Travolta insisted that not only has Scientology helped him, it's helped him help other people:
I've been so happy with my [Scientology] experience in the last 40 years that I really don't have anything to say that would shed light on [a documentary] so decidedly negative. I've been brought through storms that were insurmountable, and [Scientology has] been so beautiful for me, that I can't even imagine attacking it. ...
I've helped so many people through hard times. Loss of children, loved ones, physical illnesses. Through many tough, tough life situations I've used the technology to support them and help them. It's always worked.
Cruise has yet to speak out about the documentary.
