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”.
A legal representative for the Church of Scientology International told The Times that allegations that its UK arm had engaged in unlawful activity were false and defamatory. The representative also said that the church “has been the target of sustained anti-religious and discriminatory rhetoric” by Barnes-Ross and his associates.
Scientology was founded in the 1950s, with one of its central tenets being that humans are immortal spiritual beings called “thetans” who have had a number of past lives, possibly on other planets. It was first recognised as a religion in the UK in 2013 but has been mired in controversy.
There have been several public allegations since of harassment, criminal behaviour and abuse orchestrated by the church in the UK and US, all of which have been denied by the organisation and its representatives. It has been denied religious recognition in several European countries.
In a complaint to Transport for London (TfL) about the church’s adverts, Barnes-Ross wrote: “As an ex-Scientologist who was abused and currently being harassed by this organisation as a result of speaking out about my experiences, I am deeply saddened, alarmed and offended.”
TfL issued him an apology, seen by The Times, stating: “The adverts do not contravene our advertising policy. Nonetheless, I am certainly sorry for any offence caused to you personally.”
Scientologists have only recently begun promoting the church in adverts, with few being run before last year but 19 put up over January and February. The church has said that “as a new religion” it utilises advertising campaigns “as it does not have centuries of support as other major religions do”.
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