In writing a 365-page book targeting the Church of Scientology,
Lawrence Wright sought out a tiny group of disgruntled ex-members
led by this man:
expelled from the Church for financial misconduct, deception,
ineptitude and violence.
Nearly all of Wright's sources
were dismissed from the Church for similar offenses,
including: embezzlement, financial wrongdoing, sexual misconduct,
physical abuse and severe violations of Church doctrine.
Yet these are the individuals Lawrence Wright uses to impugn the
character of the Church and its leader,
a man responsible for a worldwide religion
and its unprecedented expansion…
…and under whose stewardship,
the Church’s social betterment programs have become
the largest non-governmental anti-drug and
human rights campaigns on Earth.
But in writing his "so called" expose on Scientology,
Lawrence Wright’s sources were far from credible and Wright knew it.
Their allegations so far-fetched that a federal judge and an appeals court
dismissed them as baseless.
Lawrence Wright ignored that.
And when the Church provided thousands of pages of evidence
documenting the falsehood of those claims -–
Lawrence Wright continued to present the allegations as fact.
When asked in a journalist forum,
“Do you believe that journalism can lead to truth?”,
Wright had this to say:
"Truth is one of those subjective terms
that are pointless to get too tied up about."
Wright's book was released in January 2013
but failed to generate reader interest.
Still, it found itself immediately steeped in controversy
about the veracity of its claims.
So much so that the book’s publisher would not release it in Britain,
Ireland, Canada or Australia because of their libel laws.
The chances of losing a lawsuit were simply too great.
Now, documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney has taken Lawrence Wright’s
book at its word without question or examination:
“I utterly trusted Larry. I wasn’t looking for holes in his story.”
Over the two years Gibney quietly worked on his documentary,
he never once contacted the Church, visited a Church
or spoke to any of its members.
His documentary was in the can before he even mentioned it to them.
And to this day, Gibney refuses to reveal his allegations to the Church.
Let’s take a closer look at Wright and Gibney's sources:
Meet Mark Fisher, expelled from the Church nearly 30 years ago
for acts of sexual perversion and now Facebook friend of Lawrence Wright.
It was Wright who dug up Fisher after all those years
to try to corroborate long-disproven allegations over three decades old.
Living in Las Vegas, supporting himself as a telemarketer,
Mark Fisher is a frequent sex tourist and writer of an online "how-to"
for picking up prostitutes in what Fisher refers to as “The Land of Smiles.”
In his own words:
“In Thailand... you spend $60 to $75 dollars
and are guaranteed action at the end of the night!”
“If you want to have some real fun, order the girl an alcoholic drink or better yet,
a shot of liquor, which will really loosen them up.”
“The main attraction is the girls giving the men oral sex
under their bar stools out in the open!”
“You can take any one of the girls home with you to your hotel for a night of fun!
They will NEVER SAY NO!”
Fisher’s advice doesn’t end there.
He also gives pointers on condom sizes…
...experiences with transgenders…
...and playing the field.
And when stateside, Lawrence Wright's “trusted source”, Mark Fisher,
will likely be found here.
Or here, where in his off hours, Mark Fisher associates
with members of the notorious criminal cyber-terrorist group, Anonymous.
This is the person Wright is using to malign a worldwide religion and its leader.
And providing a platform for these false stories…
Sheila Nevins, head of HBO Documentaries and Family Programming.
Nevins apparently shares Fisher’s taste.
“Strippers and hookers, that’s my specialty.”
“We did Real Sex, we did Pornucopia. We did G-string Divas.”
So, Mark Fisher and Sheila Nevins stand on common ground.
One traveling to Thailand to chronicle his "sex-cations" exploiting young prostitutes …
…the other, using her executive position at HBO
to bring legitimacy to the sex trade, to get ratings on cable TV.
So whether it’s soft porn or a video version of a book
filled with fabrications and falsehoods,
for Sheila Nevins, it’s all about money.
“I’m in a business and corporation and I have to make money for them
and I have to make people watch.”
So here's what we have:
Mark Fisher, expelled from the Church nearly thirty years ago,
corroborator of long-discredited events he claimed happened in the 1980s.
Presented as fact by Lawrence Wright,
swallowed whole by Alex Gibney
and greenlit on behalf of HBO by Sheila Nevins.
…who shares Lawrence Wright and Alex Gibney’s attitudes about the truth.
“Maybe if we all told the truth, we’d all shoot each other.”
In future segments,
we’re going to show you more of Lawrence Wright’s “sources"...
Remember this guy – the ringleader of that tiny group Lawrence Wright
befriended and used to tell false stories about his former religion?
“Shut the fuck up. I’m tellin’ you something right now…”
He was dismissed and expelled from the Church for criminal activities --
that's criminal, as in felony.
His résumé also includes episodes of shoving, kicking,
punching and extreme violence.
And a honeymoon night spent in jail.
But Lawrence Wright doesn’t reveal any of that,
or any other sordid detail about this man.
You’ll also meet those this man calls his "posse":
Such as the guy he nearly killed, who he now calls his "best good buddy".
This guy deserted his children and ruthlessly attacked his estranged wife…
…the thief who used to ride shotgun with the ringleader on his punching sprees.
Admitted accomplices in a scheme to suborn perjury –
getting others to lie under oath.
And another Lawrence Wright source, the "lady" expelled from the Church
for having sexual relations with someone she was ministering to,
a violation of professional conduct in any church. You'll meet her, too.
…the paid tabloid source and his wife, whose frivolous lawsuits
were repeatedly thrown out of Federal Court
and the couple ordered to pay the Church $40,000.
... and the writer who took advantage of his Scientology connections to
take $5 million for writing scripts he never completed.
Lawrence Wright and Alex Gibney could have shown you
the truth about Scientology.
For this is Scientology today:
A rapidly expanding religion with new churches opening, by the month,
throughout the world...
But instead of showing you this,
Wright and Gibney have chosen to give you this man...
Shut the fuck up…
And his tiny group of followers.
That’s right – this guy is the leader of all Lawrence Wright's "sources."
They are interconnected, each of them corroborating the other’s
false stories and lies, some for big bucks.
All of them handpicked to populate the story
Lawrence Wright and Alex Gibney want to sell.
Lawrence Wright, Alex Gibney
and executive producer Sheila Nevins know full well who these people really are.
But you won’t see that on HBO.
Shut the fuck up…