unilad homepage
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • World News
    • Crime
    • Health
    • Money
    • Sport
    • Travel
  • Film and TV
    • Netflix
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Former Scientologist says church spent $2.5m just to harass him

Home> News> World News

Published 18:02 7 Mar 2024 GMT

Former Scientologist says church spent $2.5m just to harass him

Former Scientologist and author Jon Atack said he was told the organization had spent a staggering amount of money harassing him

Kit Roberts

Kit Roberts

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/LADbible TV

Topics: News, World News, Crime

Kit Roberts
Kit Roberts

Kit joined UNILAD in 2023 as a community journalist. They have previously worked for StokeonTrentLive, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Star.

Advert

Advert

Advert

A former member of the Church of Scientology has revealed that the organization spent an astonishing amount of money just to harass him.

Jon Atack used to be a member of the highly secretive organisation before managing to leave.

Since leaving, Atack has gone on to become an expert in authoritarian cults and author.

After his departure, Atack told LADBible TV how he had been the target of a sustained campaign of harassment by the Church of Scientology.

Advert

Jon Atack shared his experiences since leaving the Church of Scientology.
LADBible TV

This extended into every aspect of his life.

"I was harassed on a daily basis for 16 years after I left Scientology and spoke out," he said.

Atack explained that this was through a process called 'noisy investigation'.

This begins with compiling a list of everyone who knows you, including 'your doctor, your dentist, your travel agent, whoever, your friends, your family', Atack said.

He continued: "They'll then contact every person on the list, whether directly or on the phone, and say 'we're gathering information about Jon Atack or whoever and their criminal background, we found out some really interesting things already'."

The Church of Scientology building in Los Angeles.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Atack said that this had happened to him and his mother-in-law, and his brother-in-law actually spoke to them.

The organization also spread malicious rumours about him.

He said: "It was put about that I was a recovered heroin addict, I've never taken heroin in my life, I was a rapist, I'd attempted murder, I'd molested children.

"These are standard stories that are told about critics of Scientology, they're made up."

The campaign of harassment included sending a private investigator from the US to the UK and Australia to track down people who knew him.

Atack later found out just how much they had spent just on him.

He said: "I was told when the head of their harassment division defected after a conversation with me, and she told me that they'd spent £2 million [around $2.5 million] harassing me up until that point."

It's a staggering amount of money, but it worked.

Atack told how his entire life upended as a result, saying: "It was incredibly destructive. It took me 17 years to recover my physical health.

"They sued me in America, they sued me here, and through legal costs I was bankrupted.

"My marriage fell apart, my health came apart. Took me about 17 years to get back to a place where I could stand up again."

UNILAD has reached out to the Church of Scientology for comment.

Choose your content:

10 hours ago
14 hours ago
15 hours ago
  • Régis BOSSU/Sygma via Getty Images
    10 hours ago

    Chernobyl nurse describes terrifying ‘crimson’ symptom 40 years on from explosion

    Firefighters trying to prevent the Chernobyl nuclear disaster received more than a lethal dose of radiation in less than five minutes

    News
  • Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for OP
    10 hours ago

    Washington Hilton Ronald Reagan shooting led to secure room used in Trump evacuation

    Donald Trump was rushed to safety after gunshots were fired at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

    News
  • Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
    14 hours ago

    Trump 'honored' to have been present at Correspondents' Dinner shooting attempt

    The president shared his thoughts on the shooting after being asked why such incidents 'keep happening'

    News
  • Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
    15 hours ago

    Trump shares footage of shooting suspect at White House Correspondents' Dinner

    The footage showed the quick reactions of the Secret Service as they sought to apprehend the suspect

    News
  • Minneapolis shooting suspect's disturbing link to church revealed after incident left two children dead
  • Man who spent nine years locked in one of world's deadliest prisons reveals the time he ‘came closest to death’
  • Melissa Gilbert says she knew about husband Timothy Busfield's previous sexual assault allegations before marrying him
  • Archeologist claims to know where Lost Ark is hidden and wants to use new tech to find it