John Stamos Says the Church of Scientology 'Kicked Me Out' as a Teen

Mar. 15, 2025

John Stamos.Photo:Matt Winkelmeyer/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

Matt Winkelmeyer/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

John Stamosis remembering a story of unexpected rejection as a teen.

“She said, ‘You know, we’re all meeting at this address on Hollywood Boulevard. Come after [class],’” he recalled. “I was working at my dad’s restaurant at the time, and I said, ‘Dad, I gotta, I gotta go.’ So I went, and it was the Scientology building!”

He added that he was only 16 or 17 years old, and when he walked in, he began playing with the E-meter, which Scientologists believe measures a person’s level of spirituality.

John Stamos.Mireya Acierto/Getty

Mireya Acierto/Getty

“They brought me in there, and there was this guy and they had this E-meter, and I’m holding these two cans, so I started [saying], you know, ‘Hello… Peabody in the Wayback Machine,’” he recalled. “You know, Sherman and Peabody.”

“They didn’t like that,” he continued. “I was just f—ing around so much that they said, ‘Get out. Get. Go.’ They just kinda kicked me out.”

In his memoir,If You Would Have Told Me, Stamos also wrote about his experience, recalling, “I am whisked out of the room and sent on my merryway. Apparently, I’m not Scientology material. Darn it.”

He also wrote of his admiration forJohn Travolta, who has been a Scientologist for since 1975, after seeing him on the set ofGrease.

John Travolta attends the premiere of Quiver Distribution’s “The Fanatic” at the Egyptian Theatre on August 22,.Getty Images

Getty Images

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“I don’t know the meaning of the word ‘charisma’ at that point, but I learn the essence encoded in the concept when Tra-volta moves like a panther parting the crowd in that iconic blacksuit with a pink shirt, white socks, and pocket square. He’s ooz-ing charm and radiating an aura of greatness,” he shared.

“That! I want to be that!” he remembered thinking.

source: people.com