Kirstie Alley Rips 'Bigotry' on 'Today Show'

By Amber James Posted Mar 17th 2010 05:00PM

EXCLUSIVE: Kirstie Alley claims she was "ambushed" during a March 16 interview on NBC's 'Today Show' when reporter Meredith Vieira asked her directly if her Organic Liaison diet program is connected to Scientology. The question came right after her opening segment -- in which the Hollywood Reporter's Roger Friedman claimed Alley's company was made of top-level Scientologists. After denying the claims on national TV, Alley spoke to PopEater about the "lies and myths" he brought to the the forefront of the national media.

"If you Google Mr. Friedman, you'll see he has had longtime problems with Scientology. He has written numerous articles against them," Alley said at a private press event on Wednesday afternoon. "That I need to clarify or defend the intentions of my L.L.C. business corporation, in the year 2010 is indicative of the intolerance that we as a country need to overcome. However, after the 'Today Show' brought fringe bigotry and intolerance into the forefront of the national media, I feel compelled to clarify two issues," she said.

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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Kirstie Alley

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Comments

(90)

Wednesday 17 March

By Kyle

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

On Tuesday morning, everyone thought LA had a 4.4 earthquake. It was later confirmed that Kirsty Alley fell out of bed at 4:04 AM.

By Tracey

Shes doing a reality show cuz she cant live without the public adoration of having fans worship her. No wonder she cant get her life together. And by the way, at 5'8, there is no way her highest weight has only been 235. Shes living in a fantasy land & is no doubt more closer to 300 lbs. If she wants to lose weight & get her act together, she should do it for herself, for a better life, not to get people to love her or get the tabloids off her case. How pathetic people like this are.

Friday 19 March

By bstill

Vote down Vote up Report this

That's not chit!

By Gwen

Kirsty just took it out on Meredith. NBC made her ride up in the freight elevator.

By Frank

In the Media, scientology is one step above pedophilia, or maybe just half a step.

Most pedophiles are very sick & have great difficulty doing the right thing which is a trait they readily share with our Media...

By Edie

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Go tell it to the Pope! Roman Catholicism is the biggest pedophile mill in history!!!

By Thelma

That is the most stupid logic! you drunk or over medicated?

By annoyed

Get a life people!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Shawn

Go away....far away!

By Dean

Kirstie Alley, you can almost smell this fat ass pig on TV.

By Julie

Get a haircut, then just GO AWAY!!!!!!!!

By tagged20emma

Meet aa Rich and sexy Match oN

W W W . S e e k w e a l t h y . c o m

The bes t c l u b f o r
seek ing the rich singles, sex y beauties. ...what's the most important is that you don't have to be a milli onaire, but you can me et one. ...
Meet a Rich and sexy Match oN

w w w . S e e k w e a l t h y . c o m

The bes t c l u b f o r
seek ing the rich singles, sex y beauties. ...what's the most important is that you don't have to be a milli onaire, but you can me et one. ...

By Dennis

She just doesn't get it- Scientology was founded by a raving LUNATIC named L. Ron Hubbard.

This is no more a RELIGION than the Hare Krishna are! They only exist to FLEECE the fools who get involved with it-

Even ELVIS found that out from the outset- read about Elvis' encounters with these nutcases!

Thanks

By Red

Scientology is not a religion, it is a cult and Hubbard was totally insane. Hard to believe that people actually follow this crack pot. Scientology is actually a very controlled, crazy and scary cult and definitely should not be classified as a religion.

By Green

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

People follow the Mormon and Pentecostal cults. Why are those okay?

By Jib

It must have been 'Operation Dumbo Drop' getting 'Two Ton Tessie' (aka Kirsty Alley) to New York.

By JT

Ok, I agree with her that the interview question was a cheap shot....but what is puzzling to me, is, WHY would ANYONE buy a diet program from HER???

By lloydbonifide

Scientology is not a religion.Its a business that takes until there is nothing left.Do a seach of "scientology" on youtube.you will get educated on their bull****.They use a tecnique like a timeshare sale to get you interested,then they work into your guilt and mental weaknesses.Its for the feeble minded.

By Elizabeth

Kirsty is gross. She is overweight, loud, and obnoxious. She needs to get into a structured program to lose weight. There is something pathetic about a woman wearing Hummer sized outfits on tv. If she was serious about weight loss, she would be at Duke University.

Thursday 18 March

By LINDA

KRISTIE,I HAVE LOVED YOU EVER SINCE THE BEGINING OF YOUR CAREER,I THINK BECAUSE I KIND OF IDENTIFY WITH YOU LOL BUT I ONLY WISH I WAS AS BEAUTIFUL AS YOU ARE,YOU ARE A VERY GOOD HUMANE BEING,WHICH IAM SORRY TO SAT THERE ARE TO FEW OF,IAM LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR SHOW AND GOOD LUCK IN WHAT EVER YOU DO YOU SO DESERVE IT!!!!!

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