Carmen Llywelyn, the ex-wife of My Name Is Earl star Jason Lee, lifts the lid on Scientology and its celebrity members’ secrets. Alan Smith reports.
When Nicole Kidman publicly rebuffed former husband Tom Cruise’s Scientology religion, she was labelled a “suppressive person” by the cult and the couple were required to divorce.
That’s just one of the shocking revelations by former Scientologist and actress Carmen Llywelyn – the ex-wife of My Name Is Earl star Jason Lee, who remains a member of the controversial church.
In an exclusive interview, Carmen has pulled aside the veil of secrecy surrounding the religion, revealing for the first time how the church caters to its world-famous celebrity members including Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Lisa Marie Presley.
Carmen joined Scientology in 1995 after marrying Jason, but quit during their bitter divorce in 2002 and claims her association with the church still haunts her. “I have never spoken about Scientology before but I still have nightmares about these people,” she says. “They ruined my life and my career. I ended up addicted to pain-killers and it took three rehabs to get me straight.
“If I see a Scientologist now, I cross the street. I was shopping recently when [former Dharma & Greg star] Jenna Elfman, who’s a staunch Scientologist, approached me. She spouted statements like a robot and treated me like dirt because she knew I’d broken free.”
Carmen says Jason insisted she join the church if they were to have a future together.
“His message was that if I didn’t join, I wasn’t going to be with him,” she explains. “So I joined, but it was like a cult and I foolishly allowed it to take root in me.”
Before becoming a star thanks to My Name Is Earl, Jason appeared in the Oscar-winning drama Almost Famous and played Tom Cruise’s best friend in the 2001 thriller Vanilla Sky.
Carmen – who is most famous for her role in the hit comedy Chasing Amy – recalls meeting Tom and his then-wife Nicole in New York.
For the full story see this week’s Woman’s Day, on sale May 3, 2010.
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