And Finally Artist News

Beck says “there’s a misconception” that he’s a Scientologist

By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 25 November 2019

Beck would quite like it if you would stop going around telling everyone he’s a Scientologist, thank you very much. He says that the general assumption that he is a member of the often controversial Church Of Scientology is, in fact, “a misconception”.

This “misconception” has partly arisen, it seems, from the musician’s family connections to the church. Although him saying in interviews that he’s a Scientologist probably helped too.

In 2005 he told Irish newspaper the Sunday Tribune “Yeah, I’m a Scientologist”, which certainly made it seem like he might be. Although in the same interview he mainly spoke about having grown up within the church, his father being an early member. He has also sometimes said that he, like his mother, actually identifies as Jewish.

As well as his father being a long-time Scientologist, his wife Marissa Ribisi – from whom he separated earlier this year – was also a member. He, however, is not.

“I think there’s a misconception that I am a Scientologist”, he tells the Sydney Morning Herald. “I’m not a Scientologist. I don’t have any connection or affiliation with it. My father has been a Scientologist for a long time, but I’ve pretty much just focused on my music and my work for most of my life, and tended to do my own thing”.

As for all the times it has been claimed he is a member of the church in the past, he added: “I think it’s just something people ran with”.

So, hey, look at that, you can all stop making up excuses for Beck’s Scientology beliefs now. Because he has none.