SNL produced the best parody of Scientology ever — and then hired a Scientologist

https://tonyortega.org/2021/04/02/snl-produced-the-best-parody-of-scientology-ever-and-then-hired-a-scientologist/

[UPDATE: Please see our follow-up to this story with a recent defector who knew Chloe Fineman in Scientology.]

Our readers are very familiar with Saturday Night Live’s absolutely brilliant 2015 parody of Scientology, the music video “Neurotology.”

A take-off on a 1990 music video produced by Scientology itself, “We Stand Tall,” SNL’s funny vid managed to pack in a ton of great references to Scientology’s many controversies, and we detailed them in this earlier post.

From “Meepthorp,” the Neurotology leader who died of pink eye, to book titles like “Ignoring Your Brain,” to really obscure Easter eggs like a fleeting reference to a big cat, the geniuses at SNL really nailed Scientology in a way that equals or surpasses South Park’s notorious 2005 episode “Trapped in the Closet.”

And the best part was that SNL had managed to poke fun at Scientology while also making reference to its very serious scandals, from missing former executives to litigating people into oblivion.

So imagine our surprise when we learned that just four years after that perfect skewering of Scientology, SNL hired a Scientologist cast member!

On September 12, 2019, NBC announced that comic actress Chloe Fineman was joining the cast, and she’s had a chance to shine during two seasons now.

Fineman has not only been a talented addition to Weekend Update and in SNL’s faux commercials, but she’s also a skilled impersonator. Her Drew Barrymore was so spot-on, Barrymore had her on her show in October and gushed about what a fan she is.

Fineman’s parents are David Fineman, a biotech CEO, and Ellen Gunn, an artist. Both are listed in Scientology’s own publications as Clears.

We have spoken to two former Scientologists who remember David Fineman being an influential wealthy church member and donor.

Joey Chait, for example, tells us he remembers seeing Fineman and Gunn at the Advanced Organization and the American Saint Hill Organization in Los Angeles around the year 2000. When we told him that Scientology records indicate that they are both Scientology Clears, Joey said it was obvious to him that they were beyond that, into the OT levels.

Chloe went to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts but then in 2011 moved to Los Angeles, and looked for her break in the business.

According to Scientology publications, in 2015 she did two very grueling courses, the Student Hat and the PTS/SP course, which teaches Scientologists how to “shatter suppression” that might be holding them back.

“They’re both a pain in the ass. They’re really long. If she did the new PTS/SP, it’s a really involved, grueling course,” says musician Geoff Levin, who spent decades at Scientology’s Celebrity Centre in Hollywood. “She probably credits those two courses for why she’s doing so well,” he says.

Levin says he’s still getting mail from The Acting Center, a Scientologist-run outfit that works to be a conduit for Scientologists into show business. Chloe Fineman was a student there, and the school has boasted about her getting to SNL.

In February 2020, about halfway into her first season as an SNL cast member, Fineman gave tickets to a taping to her friend Denice Duff, a Scientologist actress who Levin characterizes as “hardcore.”

When we pointed that out to Levin, that just last year Chloe Fineman had invited hardcore Scientologist Denice Duff to a taping of the show, he told us it suggests to him that Fineman is still a deeply involved church member.

We sent detailed messages to both Chloe and her father David Fineman, asking them for their thoughts on SNL’s treatment of Scientology in the “Neurotology” parody, and we’ll let you know if they get back to us.

UPDATE: At some point after we sent detailed messages to Chloe Fineman asking about Scientology two days ago, she deleted her Twitter account.