Selling Out To Scientology

Reader's Digest, like so many of our institutions, seems to have forgotten it has roots in morality, religion and honesty. No more, as the pub sells its soul to Scientology to get Tom Cruise on its cover.

According to Radar Online, the magazine’s editor-in-chief Jackie Leo agreed to "a long list of bizarre demands" from the pseudo-church, which didn't trust the magazine following a series of negative (accurate) articles called "The Cult of Greed" which in turn spurred a spate of Scientology lawsuits in the 1990s. Here's Radar's description of the demands:

According to well-placed sources at the magazine, to ensure Cruise’s cooperation, the Digest’s reporter, Meg Grant, promised to give “Scientology issues” equal play in her profile of the star, and agreed to enroll in a one-day Church “immersion course.” Before the interview took place, our sources say, the magazine also agreed to submit its questions for Cruise to his Church handlers, who weeded out any queries they deemed inappropriate. But they were still not taking any chances. When the exclusive interview finally took place, one of Cruise’s handlers asked the star the list of pre-approved questions, as Grant recorded Cruise’s responses.

Not only did RD sell out its roots, it sold out its readers by not disclaiming all this with the article.

h/t: Media Bistro