Kirstie Alley Rips 'Bigotry' on 'Today Show'

Alley, who has been a Scientologist for over 30 years, is one of several Hollywood celebrities, including Tom Cruise and John Travolta, who are members of the religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard. During the 'Today' segment, Friedman said claimed, "There are a lot of questions about how close these two groups are, and whether this isn't just a front for Scientology."



"There was a claim that my product is a front for Scientology. This is not true. Organic Liaison is its own L.L.C. and is not affiliated with The Church of Scientology or the World Institute of Scientology. The proof is in the numbers," she continues. "Out of the 25 approximate employees, there may be 26, of Organic Liaison, 4 are Scientologists. Organic Liaison does not discriminate in its hiring practices, including religion ... It boils down to roughly 10% of my company is Scientologists, 90% are non-Scientologists," Alley added.

Alley alleges that after the interview aired, Friedman posted the following message on Twitter: "Kirstie Alley lies on The Today Show about Scientology connection."

"After twittering that he was libelous and that I was going to have my attorneys get involved, he changed it to, 'Kristie Alley gets it wrong on Today Show about Scientology Connection,'" she said.

"What shocked me was I'm so proud of my show ['Kirstie Alley's Big Life'] and went on 'Today Show' to talk about it. It isn't that I can't answer a question about speculation. What threw me off was it was like, 'Do you still beat your wife?'" she said. "When I saw they were using [Friedman] as the source, [I knew] it was am ambush. And that is what led the introduction to my show."

Alley claims she didn't even know there was any speculation about her diet program being linked to Scientology. "I was sitting in a position where I didn't know this was being said. So when I was asked about it, I really didn't know it was being brought to the forefront... I was caught off guard. The truth always will prevail," she said.

Alley also claims that if she wanted this to be a Scientology company exclusively, she would "have made it that way." "I would have told the world and touted that," she said. She backs her company, saying her team includes the "best people I could find in the world" and that "[her] company and these products are going to help people."

Alley still remains unsettled by the continuous attacks on the religion and believes people are just curious about the "outspoken" believers. "It was odd. You would never ask like, 'What religion is Jenny Craig?' No one knows and no one cares. You'd never be like, 'Is this a front for the Methodist church?'" she points out.

"Why speculation goes mainstream is still beyond me. It's gone on forever. I've been a Scientologist for over 30 years. I think a lot of things are sensationalized. The media can throw 'The controversial Church of Scientology -- and the fat girl in their religion.' That's funny. I thought there were like eight f***ing million fat Catholics," she joked.

Alley continues to back her weight loss company, Organic Liaison, and says the attacks are "another form of fear and intolerance. If you look at the history of any religion, you see these huge moments of way intolerant persecution. This stems from that. It's a cheap shot."

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