Ex-Scientologists strike back at church’s London Underground adverts
Published By admin with Comments 0
Billboards in Tottenham Court Road underground station in London have become the unlikely centre of a public relations war between the Church of Scientology and its defectors.
In mid-January three adverts were installed on the Central Line platform promoting the church. “Robert, Cinematographer” was one of three individuals depicted along with the text “I’m a Scientologist. Curious?” The adverts were controversial, not least with those who have left the church.
On Monday, three new adverts are set to be unveiled in the same spots with a near-identical design. However, they feature three ex-Scientologists — Alex Barnes-Ross, Claire Headley and Mike Rinder — and promote the Michael J Rinder Aftermath Foundation, a nonprofit group founded by Headley to support people who have left the church.
Barnes-Ross joined the Church of Scientology in 2010, aged 15, and worked his way up the ranks to become the organisation’s director of book sales in London. After becoming disillusioned, he claims to have been “locked in a room and told I couldn’t leave until I had confessed my crimes” before finally leaving the church in 2016.
Barnes-Ross has gained a substantial following online by posting videos to his YouTube channel accusing the church of “abusive practices”.
Content retrieved from: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/london/article/ex-scientologists-strike-back-london-adverts-hnw0wtslf.
