Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's School Was 'Total Scientology,' Says Former Headmaster

[Stuart G]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by MustLoveBeagles (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Newsweek

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have long denied allegations that they are members of the Church of Scientology. However, the high-profile Hollywood couple operated a private school that reportedly taught the controversial religion to students. In a Daily Beast report published on Monday, multiple teachers affiliated with the Smiths' now-defunct New Village Leadership Academy claimed that the school was "essentially a Scientology school."

As noted by The Daily Beast, the Smiths initially used one of their residences as the base for the New Village Leadership Academy, but, in 2008, they opened the doors to a building in Calabasas, California. Jacqueline Olivier, who co-founded and oversaw the academy for a year, told the publication that while she was not specifically instructed to teach Scientology, many of the teachers that the Smiths had working at the school were followers of the religion. Olivier also said that she was asked to take "study technology" courses, based on the teaching method developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

"They never mentioned Scientology," Olivier said of the Smiths. "But I remember they sent me the L. Ron Hubbard books, and I didn't put it together. It just seemed like a great opportunity."

Olivier claimed that she and other teachers at the New Village Leadership Academy were required to take classes at Hollywood's Scientology Celebrity Centre, as well as at Applied Scholastics, a Scientology-affiliated organization that's pro-study technology.

As for the teachings at the Smiths' school, Olivier said that various Scientology practices were a part of the curriculum. Among them, she alleged, was "Tone Scale"—a method of analyzing people's emotions—and "Debugging," in which a person's "barriers," as put by The Daily Beast, are supposedly broken down.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/will-smith-jada-pinkett-smiths-school-was-total-scientology-says-former-headmaster-1520730

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Believe what you may, but this article from Newsweek says far more than Will Smith can say...So who do you believe is
telling the truth? Did the teachers at the school tell the truth? Or did Will Smith and his wife tell the truth? What do
you think?

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. According to Scientology expert Tony Ortega, the Smiths

Are no longer affiliated with Scientology.

https://tonyortega.org/2022/03/28/no-will-smith-was-not-high-on-scientology-when-he-slugged-chris-rock-at-the-oscars/#more-88295

[Stuart G]

5. Maybe they are no longer affiliated with Scientology, then maybe Will Smith should tell the truth

about his involvement in it. He has always said no, he is not involved or failed to answer questions about
his religion. But about this topic, I literally knew nothing about Will Smith/ Scientology connection until today.
....If Smith has lied about this for a long time, it says more about Will Smith than what he did yesterday...
....(That is my opinion only.. I always thought Smith was a .."Class Act"

....Now I know he is in the exact same class as Donald Trump..(and I do not know what Will Smith can do
to escape from that Donald Trump class of liars, shakers, and con artists.)

[Blue Owl]

2. Smith is rumored to be a follower of L. Ron Clubbard

[pnwmom]

3. And this video, from a woman Chris Rock taped for his documentary, Good Hair,

says more than I could say.

Rock knew how much pain alopecia brings to many Black women, and yet he thought it was fine to make Jada the brunt of a joke about her baldness.

Link to tweet

[DonCoquixote]

9. "black hair " was a great documentary

but Jada smith is not one of the women in it, she, by nature of being a celebrity, is prone to be the butt of comedians, as is chris rock himself. If we get to the point where comedians cannot work, we will be a lot less tolerant as a society, which will indeed, affect women (especially as some of the best, and admittedly most brutal, are the comediennes)

Do we want to get to the point where the amy schumers and sarah Silvermans of the world are afraid some lady will come up from the audience and slap them? If so, I hope Sarah and Amy slap them back.

[pnwmom]

14. Don Rickles used to be known for his nasty personal jokes, and I didn't like him then.

And I don't like other comedians now who make other INDIVIDUALS the butt of jokes about physical characteristics over which they have no control.

This isn't like making a joke about Trump's nastiness. This is like making a joke about a person's disability. Do you think that would be fine, too?

[abqtommy]

4. I had a friend that was into Scientology and tried to recruit me. I told him no and

eventually he dropped out. That's good for him but I still hold the experience against him.
I hope it's true that the Smiths have dropped out too but I'll always wonder.

[AntiFascist]

7. I had an acquaintance who joined once and tried to recruit me as well...

because it helped him to repress his undesirable homosexual desires. We didn't stay friends.

[mahina]

6. Free country

None of mine.

[2fast4u]

8. More than a little disgusting

I don’t like Will Smith and I’ve known Scientology to be a scam since reading Mission Earth.

However, “revelations” that he is secretly a Scientologist reek of bigotry.

Would it be OK to put him as a Muslim?

[oldsoftie]

10. Bigotry? Please. Scientology is a CULT & a money con. Nothing more.

[AnotherMother4Peace]

13. He & his wife founded & funded a Scientology school. The school

folded, & the Smiths may now be out of the cult. Some people believe this and some don't. Scientology is a brutal cult if crossed. Hell, it's a brutal cult when you're ensnared. If he's out, it may be dangerous for him to speak out.

Muslims are followers of Islam, the 2nd largest religion in the world. Christianity is the world's largest religion. Malala Yousafzai (Pakistani Activist) is Muslim & Jimmy Carter is Christian - both fine, admirable people who follow their religion.

[Jacson6]

11. I don't care what Religion they practice.

[chowder66]

12. This is not breaking news. The article is from 7/27/20

[MustLoveBeagles]

15. Locking thread

This isn't news of national interest and the article is from 2020. This OP doesn't meet the criteria of SOP for LBN. Suggest reposting to the Showbiz Group.