12 Wild Oscar Conspiracy Theories People Actually Believe

Documentarian Alex Gibney’s latest exposé Going Clear is just one in a sizeable line of films and TV programmes taking a jab at the Church of Scientology. As Scientology so often does whenever anybody tries to besmirch its good name it launched a smear campaign prior to the documentary’s release, including taking out full-page advertisements in the Los Angeles Times and harassing its participants.

Despite the Church’s attempts to bad-mouth the movie at every chance, it was released in 2015 to a tonne of critical acclaim and became one of HBO’s most-watched documentaries, second only to Beyoncé documentary Life Is But A Dream. Which statistically speaking basically means people hate Scientology almost as much as they love Beyoncé.

When the Emmy Awards rolled around Going Clear scooped seven nominations and won three of them, including the award for Outstanding Documentary. Naturally this riled the Church of Scientology even more and with the Academy Awards looming on the horizon and Going Clear eligible for nomination because of its initial theatrical release, they decided to up the ante.

Apparently, not only did the Church produce its own documentary disparaging Gibney but also approached several members of the Academy’s documentary branch responsible for deciding contenders for its Best Feature Documentary award.

Going Clear eventually did end up making the shortlist, however. Curiously though, it didn’t make the final nominee cut which is a bit odd considering its success up until that point. Could it be that Scientology’s Oscar smear campaign actually worked?

Well we all know that Hollywood types love Scientology and vice versa. Possibly because high paid film industry folks are some of the few able to pay the stupidly expensive cost of being a dedicated Scientology follower. And we all know that Academy voters are made up of film industry professionals, so it could be that some devout Scientology members wielded their influence to make sure Gibney’s film didn’t win.

Or it could be that the other nominees were better quality, but where’s the paranoid fun in that?