October 6, 2015
Alex Gibney
Jigsaw Productions
601 West 26th Street
Suite 1762
New York, NY 10001
Re: Church of Scientology
Dear Mr. Gibney:
Attorney Norman Taylor has informed me that he posed a question to you at a recent event at the International Documentary Association in Los Angeles. After introducing himself as Spanky Taylor’s ex-husband, Mr. Taylor asked you the following:
“I too was a witness to events that happened over 37 years ago. I too was a witness to some of the events portrayed by Spanky Taylor in the movie. The facts as depicted in the film are not correct. I was never contacted. Why didn’t you corroborate her story?”
You responded that you didn’t reach out to a lot of ex-husbands and ex-wives because it seemed like they would have axes to grind. This is laughable. If having an ax to grind had disqualified people from appearing in your film, you would have had no subjects. Everyone in your film had an ax to grind.
You further responded, “Anybody who is interested in Norman Taylor’s version of events can go on the Scientology website and you can see that in much greater detail. freedommag.org.”
You apparently think that after ignoring the facts, you can make whatever false statements you wish. When people speak the truth they would have told you had you bothered to speak to them, your reaction is to belittle, mock and disparage. Pointing to a response that should have been in your movie when it was released nine months ago doesn’t exhaust journalistic responsibilities. If you had integrity, you would have spoken to him in advance to vet what Ms. Taylor was telling you.
You did not give the Church a chance to provide factual information for your film before you finished it. If you are not going to correct it now that you have the facts, at least add a subtitle, saying in essence, “See freedommag.org for all the lies I am telling in this film.”
Regards,
Karin Pouw