Photo: YouTube
Brad Pitt narrowly escaped the Church's clutches.
By Amy Lamare — Written on Aug 09, 2019
Ex-Scientologist Sam Domingo is the former daughter-in-law of legendary opera singer Placido Domingo. She's speaking out against her former Church — particularly the method the Church uses on drug abusers called the "purification rundown." Domingo said she was a member of the controversial church for 22 years. She's been free of Scientology and its strange practices since 2004. Now, she's telling the tales — including how Brad Pitt had a terrifying encounter in the early 1990s with what Scientologists call the "sweat box." Who is Sam Domingo?
1. Former daughter-in-law of Placido Domingo
Samantha "Sam" Domingo, 51, is the British ex-wife of Placido Domingo, Jr. She said she was introduced to the Church in 1987 and stayed in the fold for 22 years. She signed a billion-year contract to work for the group's "Sea Org," the highest level of Scientology members. Domingo, her ex-husband and their three daughters — Paloma, Victoria and Daniela all fled the Church 15 years ago. However, she claims that by the time they left, her father-in-law had paid more than $2 million to the organization for the family to be part of various events and training programs in the Church. Domingo claims that Placido Sr. hated the Church but was afraid he'd be cut off from his two sons and their families that were members.
2. The "sweat box"
Sam Domingo claims Brad Pitt was recruited by the Church of Scientology in the early 1990s when he was in a relationship with Juliette Lewis. Pitt was put through the purification rundown, during which Church members load you up with vitamins and put you in the sauna for five hours a day to sweat out the drugs and alcohol. Domingo claims the method is dangerous and at least four young people have died during this program. Domingo is not the only one telling the harrowing tale of the sweat box. Jenna Miscaviage Hill, the niece of Scientology leader David Miscavige, also details this process in her 2013 memoir.
3. Brad wasn't buying into it
It's a well-known fact Scientology is obsessed with recruiting celebrities to its fold. Domingo is convinced that the purification rundown is what sent Brad Pitt running for the hills. For the record, Juliette Lewis did buy into it and is still a member of the Church today.
4. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's kids were indoctrinated to hate their mother
According to Domingo, when Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman divorce, their children Connor and Isabella were fully indoctrinated into the Church and taught to hate their mother. The children were re-educated so that Cruise could retain custody over them. Kidman was labeled an "SP" or "Supressive Person." According to the Chuch of Scientology website: “A Suppressive Person (SP) is a person who seeks to suppress other people in their vicinity. A Suppressive Person will goof up or vilify any effort to help anybody and particularly knife with violence anything calculated to make human beings more powerful or more intelligent.”
Domingo told the Daily Mail: "'Isabella's being used for PR, she's Tom Cruise's kid, it's not fair what they're doing to her and Connor. They have no choice but to be the poster kids of Scientology now."
5. John Travolta tried to bring his son back from the dead
Domingo claims John Travolta and Kelly Preston tried to bring their 16-year-old son Jett back from the dead after his fatal seizure in January 2009 by using a "Bring Back to Life Assist." She said: “John Travolta did a ‘Bring Back to Life’ assist while Jett was in the ambulance, it’s where you order the Thetan (spirit) to get back into the body, saying, ‘I command you to get into the body now.'" Scientologists believe that when Thetan leaves the body, it finds another. Domingo said: "When you lose a child in Scientology, you believe that the spirit Thetan has left that physical body and will find another one.”
Kelly Preston got pregnant a few months after Jett's death. The couple's third child Ben was born about a year and a half after Jett's death. John and Kelly, according to Scientology beliefs, would believe Ben's Thetan is Jett.
6. Jada Pinkett-Smith was a recruiter
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have denied their involvement with the Church of Scientology, but Domingo has another story to tell. She claims that Jada was a recruiter for the Church. “Jada was always around Celebrity Center, doing her own thing with Kelly Preston in the President’s Office. They were like the Stepford Wives of Scientology,” Domingo recalled.
7. Her ex is also critical of the Church
Sam Domingo met her second husband, Placido Domingo, Jr. and his half-brother Jose at Los Angeles' Scientology Celebrity Center in 1994. The brothers were both active Church members. Sam and Placido Jr. married in the mid-90s. They divorced in 2008 as he was still involved with Scientology and Sam had left the church four years earlier and become critical of it. Placido Jr. left scientology in 2009; Jose remains active in the Church. A 2011 Telegraph article revealed that Placido Jr. left the Church when leaders told him to stop communicating with Sam. When he left the Church after two decades in the organization, he discovered his Scientologist friends were told to unfriend him on Facebook. He also claimed the organization published confidential information from his "audits" — Scientology's version of confession. "It's an outrage. It’s penitent-privilege information. Imagine if they did that to Tom Cruise or John Travolta. My God,” he said.
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.
YourTango may earn an affiliate commission if you buy something through links featured in this article.