Last week was an eventful one for the Scientology public relations team:

First, snatching PR defeat from the jaws of victory, the Board of Aldermen of Ferriday, Louisiana, rescinded its proclamation of March 13 as “L. Ron Hubbard Day,” citing public protest.

Then came the latest in the church’s battle with South Park. As Hammer of Truth summarizes:

It all started … when Issac Hayes (a Scientologist who provides the voice for the character Chef) lost his chocolate salty balls by quitting the program:

“There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins,” the 63-year-old soul singer and outspoken Scientologist said.

Keep in mind that this comes from a man who not only insists that others suck his balls but who also has participated in a television program which had the Virgin Mary bleeding out her ass. It seems Matt Stone agrees:

Stone said: “In 10 years and over 150 episodes of South Park, Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslim, Mormons or Jews.

“He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show.”

Now Andrew Sullivan is reporting that Cruise declared war on South Park and may be the force behind the pressure applied to Viacom to pull the re-run of the “Trapped in the Closet” episode. Cruise denies these allegations.

I’m of the (uninformed) opinion that the pressure more likely came directly from Church of Scientology, who were challenged with this line from the show:

Stan: I’m not the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology is just a big fat global scam.

Finally, we have this report:

Sources say Tom Cruise is urging his friend and fellow Scientologist John Travolta not to play a woman, the middle-aged mom Edna Turnblad in the movie Hairspray.

While Travolta ponders the role made famous by notorious cross-dresser Divine and gay activist Harvey Fierstein, Tom is reportedly warning Travolta it will hurt him professionally. Not to mention the fact Scientologists are against anything ‘gay.’

Interestingly, none of these topics are covered in the Scientology Web site’s newsroom. Most press releases are about the church’s “volunteer ministers” charitable outreach, which has been dismissed as spin by some.

Notice how carefully we choose our words? That’s because scientologists are not only actors and PR people; some are lawyers, too.

Technorati tags: PR, Public Relations, Marketing