Scientology 'Could Have Caused Johnny Lewis' Violent Breakdown,' Says Former Celebrity President
Sept. 28 2012, Published 7:00 a.m. ET
The mysterious death of Sons Of Anarchy actor Johnny Lewis, who is suspected of murdering his elderly landlady before falling to his death, could have been caused by his close ties to the Church of Scientology, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned.
"Scientology could have caused his breakdown and be the reason why he turned to drugs, because of the pressure and intensity of it is so great," the former president of the celebrity center, Nancy Many, told RadarOnline.com in an exclusive interview.
"Drugs are the biggest form of self medication and one of the things in his current life that he could have been self medicating against is the church.
"Scientology gets in a person’s head and makes them feel like it knows what is going on in their mind more than they do. They say, 'You just need the next level' then you will be OK."
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the troubled 28-year-old is listed on numerous websites, message boards and blogs as being a member of the controversial religion, and it has now been been revealed that his parents, Michael and Divona Lewis, are members of the elite OT 8 group with a 30 year history with the church.
"Johnny was a born and bred Scientologist," said Many. "This is a a big time Hollywood murder with Scientology in the middle of it."
With a violent arrest record and lengthy drug history, Lewis was not the model student that L. Ron Hubbard's followers want as their poster child, and Many predicts that they will be in crisis mode and do everything they can to make sure it is brushed under a rug and vanishes from the media.
"They are going to say that 'he was never really a member and just did a few minor courses.' This is their damage control, this is what they do," she said.
"They say that myself and the other whistle-blowers out there just made it up for financial gain. How can hundreds of people from different time periods within Scientology around the world all be saying the same thing? We’re all liars?" asked the former executive member who once worked directly with Hubbard.
"They are not going to acknowledge it, they are going to try to pretend he didn’t exist. They have redone films that had actors that are now not with Scientology anymore. They redid them from the bottom up."
Making the Lewis murder-suicide go away may be a meteorical challenge even for the mighty David Miscavige due to his family's deep roots with the religion.
In his blog, former Village Voice editor and Scientology expert Tony Ortega wrote on Friday that Lewis was a frequent participant in Scientology’s internal films, including starring in Film TR-5 – Why TR’s.
Along with becoming increasingly unhinged over recent years, Johnny had a history of involvement with Narconon including an appearance at a 2004 event to promote the drug rehab program where he told the audience that his mother used its teachings to help keep him off drugs.
Narconon has gotten its own fair share of bad publicity recently after three young people have died at its flagship Oklahoma rehabilitation center over the past nine months.
"The connection to Lewis is only going to make things even tougher for Narconon at a moment that it’s already under intense scrutiny. Is it any surprise that the church is scrubbing its websites of any mention of Lewis as fast as it can?"
Along with the late actor, an additional connection between Scientology and FX's Sons Of Anarchy has been established, as top producer John Linson's sister, Jenny Linson, is a well-known church member.
The graphically violent nature of Lewis' heinous crime, which involved allegedly strangling his landlady, 81-year-old Catherine Davis, and dismembering and beating her cat to death, has been compared to Canadian murder-dismemberment suspect Luka Magnotta, who had professed an obsession with Scientology and wrote in a blog post, “I wished every night that Tom Cruise would adopt me.”
"In my opinion, Scientologists are all a bunch of bigots trying to make money," Many told RadarOnline.com. "People who then go crazy - of which there have been many – and commit murder or suicide are cut off. Again the mantra is 'distance, distance, distance.'
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
"The wrenches that have been thrown into the machine the past couple of years are just beyond belief and it is very hard to predict what is next because it is exponentially happening all at once."
RELATED STORIES:
Scientology: We’re Growing At Record Pace Despite ‘Lies’ About Tom Cruise And His Divorce
Is Tom Cruise Pulling Back From Scientology? Shocking New Report Surfaces
New Scientology Tell-All Paints Faith As 'Strange And Disturbing'
