U.K. release of Scientology documentary Going Clear delayed indefinitely over libel concerns
When it premiered on HBO in March, Alex Gibney's Scientology exposé Going Clear became the network's highest-rated documentary in nearly a decade. Unfortunately, U.K. viewers who are curious to see what all the buzz is about just hit a major setback: Sky Atlantic, which originally planned to air Going Clear, has announced that the film's premiere will be delayed indefinitely.
Deadline reports that the delay is due to legal concerns. Under the U.K.'s notoriously strict libel laws, Sky Atlantic would be vulnerable to lawsuits from church members — a tactic the church has repeatedly used to silence its critics.
This isn't the first time libel concerns have silenced one of Scientology's critics. For the same reason, Lawrence Wright's 2013 book Going Clear, on which the documentary was based, has never been published in the U.K.
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