Has Primary Colors become Clinton's Cultgate?

Has President Clinton made a deal with the Scientology cult through John Travolta in exchange for a more respectable portrayal in Primary Colors? Have the cast and promoters of Primary Colors turned normal pre-movie talkshow promotions into a worried damage-control mission?

Primary Colors, due out in March, centers around a southern governor, who is actually modeled after Clinton. The New York Post quoted Travolta as saying, "You have to be dead not see that the film favors Clinton. More than anything, it promotes what a decent person he is." [February 12, 1998, "Travolta Admits Bill Used Sects Appeal to Woo Him"].

George says in its March issue that manipulating Travolta was part of Clinton's efforts to soften his portrayal in the film. Travolta went to Washington to promote Scientology just before "Primary Colors" began filming, reported George. Travolta told the magazine, "The next day, I met with Clinton. He told me: `Your program sounds great. More than that, I'd really love to help you with your issue over in Germany with Scientology.' I was waiting for the seduction that I had heard so much about. I thought, `Well, how could he ever seduce me? And after we talked, I thought, `Bingo!' He did it. Scientology is the one issue that really matters to me."

Germany considers Scientology an anti-democratic cult that cheats members out of huge amounts of money and harasses critics and ex-members in a Mafia-like manner. For these reasons, Germany refuses to recognize Scientology as a religion. Travolta and other Hollywood Scientologists have petitioned the U.S. government claiming that Scientologists in Germany face religious persecution.

According to George, "[Clinton] went to the extraordinary length of assigning his national security advisor, Sandy Berger, to be the administration's Scientology point man." Berger even briefed Travolta as would a senior senator, George reports.

George Magazine was first to report the incident and its implications. Since then, the story has been brought up in White House press conferences, on Fox news in the Wall Street Journal and is widely distributed by media. Meet the Press on February 15th questioned national security advisor Sandy Berger on the issue. Tim Russert asked Berger, "Did you or the president hope to influence Mr. Travolta, and make `Primary Colors' more favorable to the president?" and "But isn't it unusual for the national security advisor to brief an actor from Hollywood?" Berger told Russert, "Uh, it sounds to me, Tim, like you're getting, you're getting uh, developing your own conspiracy theories here."

The Washington Post [February 20, 1998] printed a syndicated column by Mary McGrory on the op-ed page called, "Amid the Monica uproar, a call to arms." In the column McGrory states:

"Hollywood pretty much has the run of the Clinton White House, even we have learned lately, the National Security Council. National security adviser Sandy Berger parlayed with actor John Travolta on the matter of the Germans being less beastly to the Church of Scientology, of which John Travolta is a member. The Germans say that Scientology is not a religion but a cult, a position that was long held by our government. Time magazine called Scientology `a hugely profitable global racket that survives by intimidating members and critics in a Mafia-like manner'... Embarrassed, overworked White House spinners explain that Clinton is a bear for religious freedom. They are shocked that anyone would think there was any quid pro quo in the equation, even if Travolta plays Clinton in a forthcoming movie, Primary Colors...."

Travolta's remarks have brought the Cultgate affair into the limelight, embarrassing the president and creating a nightmare for Primary Colors' studio and investors. Primary Colors has become an on-screen non-event because everyone knows the real plot. It's a story about Scientology and John Travolta leveraging Clinton to get the German government to leave Scientology alone in exchange for Travolta's warm and favorable portrayal of the Clinton character.

In a thinly-veiled attempt at damage control, the Primary Colors promoters are trying to cover up the sham by over-selling the idea that the president isn't going to like the film.

The Cultgate story poses troubling questions:

Was Travolta as dumb as Vinne Barbarino in revealing the Clinton deal or did Scientology and Travolta feel the president didn't deliver enough in Germany? Was it time for a little pay back or for a new party in the White House?

Who pulled the full Entertainment Tonight interview with Travolta in which Travolta was supposed to talk about his private interview with Clinton? Was the White house involved or did E.T. pull its own hot Cultgate story?

Should the Primary Colors studio and investors be calling their lawyers to file suits against Travolta and Scientology for distorting what might have been a profitable movie?

For other Cultgate updates, see: www.factnet.org under "Headlines"

Despite a few big name Hollywood Scientologists -- Tom Cruise, Ann Archer, Lisa Marie Presley, and Nicole Kidman -- many celebrities do not view Scientology favorably. Actors Jim Carrey and Nicholas Cage have "prank-called" Scientology's Celebrity Center in Los Angeles. Seinfeld, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, and Ellen have all poked fun at Scientology on television, and Howard Stern makes frequent humorous reference to the cult. The Simpsons and Millennium have devoted entire episodes to stories surrounding ominous Scientology-like cults. Music bands Black 47, Tool, and Faith No More make unfavorable references to Scientology in song lyrics. Tennis player Boris Becker threatened to sue Scientology if his name and photo were not removed from its web pages, and racecar driver Mario Andretti had Dianetics logos removed from his car.

This editorial opinion provided by FACTNet, Inc. FACTNet is a nonprofit Internet archive dedicated to protecting freedom of mind by reducing harms caused by cults and mind control. FACTNet's web page is located at www.factnet.org and has received over 800,000 hits since January, 1997.