Back Street Boys star AJ McLean says that Scientologists tried to recruit him using “brainwashing techniques” during the group’s visit to their megacenter.
Speaking to former Scientologist Leah Remini on his “Pretty Messed Up” podcast, he says he used to live down the street from the Church of Scientology’s Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles.
‘FOR LIFE’ TRAILER
“So I was curious. I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t know anything about it. But I wanted to not go alone, so I took a friend with me,” he said.
He said he went on the tour, where he and his friend were taken to a media room where they were asked if they’d be willing to watch a short film. They agreed.
“And we watched this short film, it was about 15 minutes long, and then I said OK, well, that was interesting and we went to leave and the door was locked. They wouldn’t let us out and they replayed the same film again. They played it three times until someone heard me knocking.”
He added: “It seems like a brainwashing type technique; this doesn’t seem normal to me,” he said.