A new Hollywood billboard is about to be a major eye sore for the Church of Scientology and its leader David Miscavige.
Former members of the church Phil and Willie Jones, who are husband and wife, have raised enough money to hang a billboard critical of Scientology one block away Miscavige’s office and residence on Hollywood Blvd in L.A.
The couple – who say they have lost their two kids to Scientology – wants to spread awareness about the church’s policy that separates families once a person leaves the church.
“My wife and I are in our 60’s. We have two kids and we’ve been cut off from them for almost two years. We’ve been trying to contact them,” Phil said.
The sign will read: “to my loved one in scientology… call me. StopScientologyDisconnection.com.”
The Jones were members of the church for over 40 years, but left, “because there were a lot of demands for money and we could not get ahead. And some of the things we’ve seen over the years – the way people were handled and screamed at,” he said.
Phil’s sister told the church they were leaving and their children disconnected from them two years ago.
Their daughter, Emily, who has worked for Miscavige and Tom Cruise, got married “and we weren’t even told. I don’t even know when they got married,” he said.
They posted missing posters of their son Mike around the Hollywood Celebrity Center, where he works, which inspired their idea for the Billboard.
“We are going to put up a billboard on Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles to make people more aware of Scientology Disconnection, as well as hopefully entice those in Scientology to take that step of calling their loved ones, family, friends, or whoever they have disconnected from due to pressure from the Church of Scientology,” he wrote on their gofundme page.
Tony Ortega posted about the billboard on his Scientology blog “The Underground Bunker”and helped them raise $10,000 in one day. The Joneses plan to unveil the board on Mar. 22, but fear the church may interfere.
“They did stick one of their representatives on the billboard company trying to shut us down. The church has a lot of resources. They’re capable of an awful lot of things and they don’t necessarily stay within moral grounds,” he said.
The Church of Scientology did not respond.
