Celebrity Centre
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Celebrity Centres are Church of Scientology facilities that are open to the public but serve mostly artists and celebrities and other "professionals, leaders and promising new-comers in the fields of the arts, sports, management and government", and "for those are the people who are sculpting the present into the future".[1] The Celebrity Centre International was established in Hollywood, California, in 1969 by Yvonne Gillham, a Sea Org member who worked with L. Ron Hubbard. Since then, other centres have been established in New York, London, Paris and a number of other cities across the world.
The Church often quotes L. Ron Hubbard as saying that A culture is only as great as its dreams and its dreams are dreamed by artists, citing this as the reason that Celebrity Centres were established — to create a good environment for "artists". Critics of Scientology point to the fact that Hubbard launched "Project Celebrity" in 1955 to recruit celebrities into the church and say that the centres were established for this purpose, because celebrity members give Scientology the publicity it needs to recruit more members.[2] According to former publicity officer Robert Vaughn Young, "One of my jobs was to get celebrities active, to convince them to hustle and promote Scientology".[3]
The head of the Los Angeles Celebrity Centre is Tom Davis, the son of actress and Scientologist Anne Archer.
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[edit] Church's Position
Despite the existence of the dedicated celebrity centers, in the interview to MSNBC program Countdown, Mike Rinder who was a commanding officer of the Office of Special Affairs during that time, vigorously denied the existence of a policy to actively recruit high-ranking celebrities. [4][5]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Celebrity Centre official website
- ^ Scientology and Celebrities | Scientology Lies
- ^ Leiby, Richard N. (1994-08-09). One Theory On Michael-Lisa: It's All A Plot. Washington Post. Seattle Times. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
- ^ Official transcript for Countdown show (May 12, 2006)
- ^ YouTube video with part of the show related to Scientology
[edit] References
- Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (1990-06-25). The Courting of Celebrities. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
- Frantz, Douglas (1998-02-13). Scientology's Star Roster Enhances Image. New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
- Di Matteo, Enzo (2000-01-13). Ex-Scientology celebs recall swingin' 70s. NOW Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
- Huus, Kari (2005-07-05). Scientology courts the stars. MSNBC. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
- Goodyear, Dana (2008-01-14). Château Scientology. Letter from California. The New Yorker. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
[edit] External links
- Celebrity Centre International. Presentation of the Celebrity Centres and news about Scientologist celebrities. Church of Scientology.
- Ecclesiastical Structure: "Celebrity Centre Churches". A presentation of the Celebrity Centres churches. Church of Scientology.
