Orange Is the New Black Star Laura Prepon Reveals She Left Scientology

Laura Prepon has revealed that she stopped practicing Scientology five years ago.

The “Orange Is the New Black” and “That ‘70s Show” star reflected on different changes that motherhood has brought into her life, including her break with the Church of Scientology.

“I’m no longer practicing Scientology. I’ve always been very open-minded, even since I was a child. I was raised Catholic and Jewish. I’ve prayed in churches, meditated in temples. I’ve studied Chinese meridian theory. I haven’t practiced Scientology in close to five years and it’s no longer part of my life,” she said in an interview with People.

Prepon’s spiritual practices now are more focused on meditation, which she does with her husband, actor Ben Foster. “We meditate daily and I’m really liking it, because it’s something that helps me to hear my own voice and it’s something we can do together,” she said.

Being a parent, Prepon shared, has been a driving force encouraging her to make several changes in her life. “If motherhood has taught me anything so far, it’s that something can work out for a period of time and then you move on and evolve from that,” she said. “As a new mom, I was riddled with anxiety that I had never experienced before. My friends who were mothers with older kids said, ‘Laura, this is a phase, you’ll move on and then it will be something different.’ And that has transcended into other parts of my life. We’re all evolving. I always see that with my kids.”

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These are some of Prepon’s first public remarks about Scientology since 2015, when she appeared on the cover of Scientology-affiliated magazine Celebrity. Then, she said that Scientology helped ease her anxiety: “In my life, things have become much easier, I’m not affected like I used to be. Things don’t bother me that had before. I don’t react like I did before. I remember I was doing a show with an amazing actor, and we were waiting to hear the fate of our show. He turned to me one day and asked, ‘How are you always so relaxed? Nothing seems to bother you. I want to know what you are doing…’ — I take that as such a compliment and testament to the auditing I have done.”

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Reinaldo Massengill

Update: 2024-03-08

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