Jerry Seinfeld is clearing up the rumors that he used to be a Scientologist on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast this week. If you’re like some people, you likely had no idea that Jerry Seinfeld was even associated with the Church of Scientology in the first place.
Throughout the episode, Maron and Seinfeld discussed the comedian’s process and comedic approach. At the end of the podcast, Maron directly asked Seinfeld, “Why does everyone say you were a Scientologist once?”
The origins of the rumors of Jerry Seinfeld being a Scientologist actually stems from a public feud with fellow American comedian Bobcat Goldthwait. In a 1995 interview, Goldthwait told a magazine, “Here is this creepy Scientologist guy (dating) teenage girls – which I don’t care about one way or another. What I find creepy is that people are convinced he lives in that apartment, and those are his wacky friends. They don’t like each other; they’re actors paid to pretend they like Jerry Seinfeld. He’s a weird guy. But everybody thinks he’s normal and I’m weird.”
Goldthwait popularized the rumors of Seinfeld’s involvement in Scientology from there on, and the 66-year-old comedian still does not get along with Goldthwait.
Addressing the rumors, Seinfeld admitted he briefly entertained Scientology for a moment in the 1970s, but ultimately decided the “avoiding negative people” aspect of the religion wasn’t for him. He shared, “I did do a course in Scientology in, like, 1975,” he said on the podcast. “I found it very interesting, but I never pursued it.”