Jenna Elfman Attacks Man In Glib T-Shirt
TMZ reports on a Sunday incident in which one of Scientology's second-tier celebrity adherents fiercely lashed out at a man whose t-shirt glibly called into question the sexual preference of two of her religion's higher-profile champions:
Indie film director John Roecker tells TMZ he was walking to his car with a female friend in LA's trendy Los Feliz neighborhood last Sunday when he was approached by a shirtless man and a tall blonde. "Hey, man, you're making fun of my religion," said the stranger angrily.
Roecker quickly recognized the couple as actor Bodhi Elfman and his wife, 'Dharma and Greg' star Jenna Elfman. Mr. Elfman's ire was apparently drawn by Roecker's self-made t-shirt, which had a picture of Tom Cruise on the front under the caption "Scientology is Gay!" and a 'Stayin'-Alive'-era John Travolta on the back with the words "Very Gay!" For the record, both Cruise and Travolta have said repeatedly they are not gay.
According to Roecker, who first recounted the incident on LA's KROQ-FM's Kevin and Bean Show, the invective started to fly after he made several references to Scientology theology and its reported central tenant, the story of Xenu. Roecker says Jenna repeatedly said "What crimes have you committed?" and began screaming at Roecker, "Have you raped a baby?" as motorists on Los Feliz Boulevard drove by in snarled traffic.
While Elfman's reaction seems like an unnecessary escalation up the tone scale, we should probably try to see things from her perspective. If Jesus had just controversially fathered a child (Da Vinci Code blasphemies aside) during the publicity tour for His latest blockbuster and, say, an Episcopalian encountered someone wearing a "Christianity Is Gay" t-shirt bearing a mocking, cartoonish image of Christ, that Christian might have also abandoned his Messiah's "turn the other cheek" teaching in favor of a "loudly accuse suppressive of baby rape" tactic in the heat of the moment.