X

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

Continue with Facebook Continue with email

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

South Park Creators Investigated By the Church of Scientology?

An ex-Scientologist has posted online what he says is the contents of a document from the Church of Scientology discussing an investigation into the private lives of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone back in 2005. According to the documents posted by Marty Rathbun and first picked up...

katestanhope-6623.jpg
Kate Stanhope

An ex-Scientologist has posted online what he says is the contents of a document from the Church of Scientology discussing an investigation into the private lives of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone back in 2005.

According to the documents posted by Marty Rathbun and first picked up by The Village Voice, the investigation took place shortly after the Comedy Central animated series mocked the church in the episode "Trapped in the Closet." Remember? The one that parodied Tom Cruise.

South Park's run extended through 2013

The investigation included rummaging through Stone and Parker's garbage to obtain phone records, bank records and personal letters, as well as using public records to try to get information on friends of the creators, including John Stamos and Rebecca Romijn.

Rathbun says this first posting is just one "of a trove" of documents related to the investigation. The document he revealed Sunday suggests that Scientology was examining public records on those people, looking for a vulnerability.

"Phone records. Bank records. Personal letters that expose some kind of vulnerability. They'll read stuff into the kind of alcohol you're drinking and how much. Prescriptions. They'll figure out your diet. They can find out a lot about you through your trash," he told the Voice.