Kirstie Alley is striking back after she says she was blindsided on the Today show this week with a question about whether her new weight-loss program is connected to Scientology.
“That I would need to clarify or defend the intentions or affiliations of my LLC business corporation in the year 2010 is indicative of the intolerances that we as a country still need to overcome,” Alley, 59, said Wednesday after a private screening of her new A&E reality show Kirstie Alley’s Big Life. “However, after the Today show brought fringe bigotry and intolerance into the forefront of the national media I feel compelled to clarify [myself].”
The actress, who has been involved in Scientology for the past 30 years, says the suggestion that the diet program, Organic Liaison, is a front for Scientology “is not true.”
“Organic Liaison LLC is not affiliated with the Church of Scientology or the world institute of Scientology,” says Alley, noting that about 10 percent of her company is made up of Scientologists.
“Here’s the deal: if I wanted this to be a scientology company exclusively, I would have made it that way,” she adds. “And I would have told the world ‘This is the first-ever Scientology whatever!’ I have nothing against doing that.”
Alley says that in any event religion shouldn’t matter when considering her new line of diet supplements. “It’s odd. You wouldn’t say, ‘What religion is Jenny Craig?’ No one knows and no one cares!” says Alley, who has lost more than 20 lbs. on her program. “It’s a cheap shot.”
according to people.com
