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I read 'Fifty Shades of Grey' with my boyfriend and it changed our relationship

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us

Let me start by explaining how this happened: My boyfriend, let's call him "Dave," and I are in a long-distance relationship. Therefore, we have to come up with activities that we can do together without actually being together.

Last month, he suggested we read a book. After discussing possible genres, then arguing over what constitutes a "good" mystery novel, I only half-jokingly suggested "Fifty Shades of Grey." After all, it was just in time for Valentine's Day and I had been seeing the seductive trailers for the film "Fifty Shades of Grey," based on the 2011 novel. I was admittedly more than a little curious.

To my surprise, Dave agreed, after a few seconds of hesitation. And here we are, more than 500 pages of mediocre plot and cringe-inducing porn later, and I must say that our relationship is better for it. Here's why:

Experts will tell you how important communication is for a healthy relationship, and while E.L. James's novel isn't the best piece of literature around, it's a classic example of a relationship gone sour because of poor communication.

As we read the book, Dave and I could objectively discuss where the main characters went wrong, who was to blame, and ultimately what they could have done to avoid the miserable situations they find themselves in by the end.

Fifty Shades Of GreyOver the course of our five-year relationship, Dave and I have had our fair share of arguments. Many of them spawned from miscommunication by one or both of us. And if you and your partner have ever fought because of some kind of miscommunication, then you know how difficult it is to see any side but your own.

Reading "Fifty Shades of Grey" gave Dave and me the unique chance to see each other's perspective on how couples should communicate.

More importantly, we were detached from the characters, thanks to their bizarre qualities and poor character development. This detachment meant that if we disagreed how one character acted or miscommunicated we could calmly discuss our opinions without getting into a heated dispute where someone's pride was left beaten on the floor.

During one memorable conversation we even managed to resolve a major misunderstanding we had early in our relationship.

About two-thirds into the story, the two main characters, Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, have an in-depth discussion on Steele's feelings about their relationship, which at that point has escalated from just sex to semi-serious. The discussion, however, is conducted through a series of back-and-forth emails.

50ShadesofGreyCoverArtDave strongly felt a conversation like that should take place in person and did not understand why the author had it happen any other way. While I agree a topic that important should be discussed in person, the emails were a perfect example of Steele's inability to express herself when she's with Grey.

As it turns out, I sent a few angry emails to Dave during our first year together because I, too, used to struggle with communicating my emotions. (I eventually stopped when I learned those emails ruined his entire day.)

As we discussed the example in the book, I mentioned my angry emails as a way to defend both the author's choice and Steele's actions. To my surprise, Dave had thought that I was sending those emails to be a killjoy. To his surprise, I'd sent those emails to communicate.

Needless to say, I was reminded of the importance of clear communication in a relationship and it all came from a very unexpected source. Thanks, E.L. James.

 

CHECK OUT: How 'Fifty Shades of Grey' would be different if it were written for men

LEARN MORE: Science explains how to make a long-distance relationship actually work

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NOW WATCH: Learn what all the fuss is about — here's the regular guy's guide to 'Fifty Shades of Grey'









'The Jinx' is eerily similar to the 1998 documentary ‘The Thin Blue Line'

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robert durst From its striking reenactments to its shocking conclusion, HBO’s "The Jinx" has become our latest true-crime fix. But with the series over where do you go now to consume a juicy real life whodunit?

Coincidentally, the film that started the true-crime film genre just became available on Blu-ray Tuesday for the first time ever.

“The Thin Blue Line” (1988) is Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris’ masterpiece that reexamines the 1976 murder of a slain Texas police officer in which Randall Dale Adams was convicted and sentenced to death. Morris interviews most of the lawyers, investigators, and witnesses involved in the case in an attempt to prove that Adams was innocent of the crime. Morris also interviewed David Harris, who said he was in the car with Adams when the murder took place.

His testimony was one of the chief reasons Adams was convicted, but "The Thin Blue Line" suggests that it was actually Harris who was guilty.

Thin Blue Line 2And to top this incredible story, Morris added something that set his film apart from the talking heads in documentaries of the 1980s; he incorporated lush reenactments of the night in question accompanied by a stirring score from composer Philip Glass (he’s since done the music for four more Morris films) to create an immersive experience that elevates the story and makes you feel you're right there investigating what really happened. "The Jinx" incorporates similarly vivid reenactments. 

Thin Blue Line 1

"The Jinx" and "The Thin Blue Line" both have shocking endings. In the former, the real-estate heir Robert Durst apparently confesses to killing his wife, his good friend, and his neighbor when he utters the phrase, "What the hell did I do? Killed them all of course."

At the end of "The Thin Blue Line," Harris admits to Morris it was he, not Adams, who killed the police officer.

Morris, who talked to Business Insider from Los Angeles last week, says he hasn't seen "The Jinx" yet, but moments he recounts from his experience making "The Thin Blue Line" are almost a carbon copy of what we see "The Jinx" director Andrew Jarecki go through while making his HBO documentary series. 

Like in the final episode of "The Jinx" where Jarecki is filled with anxiety preparing for the final interview with Durst, Morris told BI he also had his own issues when doing his final interview with Harris. Perhaps even worse than Jarecki's nerves, Morris' camera malfunctioned while interviewing Harris and he had to tape record their conversation instead of filming it.

“I thought it was a disaster at the time,” said Morris. “I remember I came home from doing the interview with the tape recorder and I started crying.”

the thin blue line tape recorder finalThe scene has since become one of the most memorable endings in cinema, the shot of a lone tape recorder playing Harris’ confession. Many believed at the time that it was Morris’ intention to film the conversation in this unconventional way. Morris admits it's taken him some time to finally appreciate the power of the scene as it is. 

"The Jinx" fans may recall that Jarecki also uses shots of a tape recorder playing interviews with sources.

the jinx episode 2Morris admits he still wonders if Harris would have been as open to him on that day if a camera were in front of him. “I felt very strongly that I had a case, a very powerful case, with or without that,” he said. “But I may not have had as powerful a film.”

In "The Jinx," Jarecki speaks about the guilt of having to question Durst about new evidence he found after having built a relationship with his subject over the course of making the film. Morris felt similarly about Harris.

Although Morris was certain he was “a cold blooded killer,” he had spent numerous years talking to him on and off camera and began to like him. So, after the film's release, when he had to appear at Harris' trial for the unrelated killing of another man in Beaumont, Texas in 1985, he was extremely nervous that he would be called to the stand and betray his subject's trust. Morris says he was never called.

the thin blue line david harris final

robert durst the jinx episode 1 finalMorris' relationship with Harris was on such good terms, in fact, that the director spent time with Harris several hours before he was executed by lethal injection in 2004 in Texas for the murder of the Beaumont man. (Harris never officially confessed to killing the police officer.)

“We talked about his absolute conviction that he would never be executed," Morris said. "He didn't believe that it would ever happen, even a couple of hours before his death."errol morris Jarecki and his filmmaking team are preparing for the likely chance of being called in a future Durst trail.

andrew jarecki robert durstBut perhaps one of the biggest things that links the two films are their ties to advocacy journalism and the paradox of providing new information to the authorities for the good of society versus keeping it to use for their films. The release of "The Thin Blue Line" in theaters in 1988, which at that time for a documentary was unheard of, didn't only get a man off death row but brought more discussions to the fore about capital punishment.

"The Jinx" doesn’t have such lofty aspirations, but Jarecki and his team discovered new evidence that could link Durst to unsolved murder cases. There are now questions as to whether Jarecki and company delivered materials to authorities in a timely fashion, but the LAPD have denied that their arrest of Durst was related to findings in "The Jinx." 

Recently, filmmaker Joe Berlinger — who along with his filmmaking partner Bruce Sinofsky brought new evidence in the case of the West Memphis Three in their "Paradise Lost" films that eventually got them off death row — commented on this topic following the final episode of "The Jinx."

"The great success of 'The Jinx' raises, for me, issues we have been grappling with and that is the continued blurring of the lines between reporting and entertainment. Documentaries are in a unique position to go the distance … you can go deep and you can get answers, but at the same time there are some issues. The selective withholding of information at the right dramatic moment, the recreation of gory details that are painful for those involved, and yet, it's entertainment. So I think this raises a lot of issues, the most important of which is when somebody knows something that is key to a case when do you communicate that to the police?"

For "The Thin Blue Line," Morris struggled with the issue of when to divulge new evidence he'd uncovered to the authorities, because they were convinced they had got their man.

"I'm sure there were Dallas police officers who, until their dying day, believed Randall Adams was guilty," he said.

And Morris did not trust Adams' lawyer, either. "Inevitably you always, in life as in art, volunteer and withhold information for a lot of different reasons. Some of them are defensible reasons, some are indefensible reasons. I came to distrust Randall Adams' attorney and I withheld information from the attorney while I was doing my investigation for a number of reasons. I would defend those reasons to this day. And I reached a certain point where I knew I had to turn over everything I had to him. Didn't like him. Think he's the principal reason why Randall Adams sued me. But I realized I had to give him everything. It was the correct thing to do."

That is the main point behind any true-crime story, according the Morris. Whether it be told through a novel or movie, whether the subjects are arrested the day before the story we're watching ends or years later, regardless how great the stories are presented to the audience or how popular they become, it isn't what closes a case.

"What a documentary should do is make you think about what is true and false," Morris said. "It should make you question the nature of the evidence that you are being presented with. When people say ["The Thin Blue Line"] got Adams out of prison I remind them it brought an unknown, unheralded, obscure case to national attention. It was the evidence, the evidence I uncovered, that got him out of prison."

Randall Dale Adams would eventually go free in 1989 and "The Thin Blue Line" would become a classic, added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2001.

As of today, “The Thin Blue Line” is available now on Blu-ray through The Criterion Collection

SEE ALSO: Oscar-winning director Errol Morris reveals what his Netflix series will be about

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NOW WATCH: Hugh Hefner's Son Has A Surprising And Inspiring Attitude Toward Women








Meet the 13-year-old CEO who built a $200,000 business and is mentored by Daymond John

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mo's bows

Last September, "Shark Tank" investor Daymond John flew his mentee Moziah Bridges, the then 12-year-old founder and CEO of bow tie company Mo's Bows, to New York City for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

Besides taking him to events and making introductions to power players in the industry, John accompanied Bridges on a morning taping of CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Later that day, John got a call from Karen Katz, CEO and president of the Neiman Marcus Group.

He assumed the call was for him, he tells Business Insider, but it was for Bridges.

"I've never been in Neiman Marcus with any of my brands, and it takes the 12-year-old child to get Neiman Marcus to call me!" John says, laughing. "So that's the student teaching the teacher, you know?"

Today, the precocious CEO is 13. With the help of his mother Tramica Morris ("Mo is the CEO of the company, but I'm the CEO of Mo," she says), he's sold about $200,000 of his handmade bow ties and other men's fashion accessories. He has seven employees — including his mom and grandmother.

John became Bridges' mentor in 2013 after he and his mom appeared on "Shark Tank" in its fifth season. The mother-son entrepreneur duo from Memphis sought $50,000 in exchange for 20% equity in the company.

Bridges had the idea for Mo's Bows when he was just 9 years old. His grandmother, a retired seamstress, taught him early on the importance of dressing sharp. He asked her to teach him how to sew, and soon he was making bow ties and selling them online and to several stores in the South.

By the time he taped the "Shark Tank" segment, he'd sold 2,000 bow ties he made by hand with his grandmother, bringing in $55,000 in revenue. Kevin O'Leary offered a deal for the $50,000 in exchange for a $3 royalty per tie sold, which Mark Cuban and John advised Bridges not to take.

John says that when he saw Bridges up there with Morris, a single mother, he was reminded of his own situation growing up. He told Bridges that in 1989 he declined an offer of $10,000 for 40% of his hat company; 10 years later, that hat company had grown into FUBU and was valued at $100 million.

Saying it would be a mistake for Bridges to take an investment at that point in his business, John offered to be Bridges' mentor for free, which Bridges and Morris agreed to.

moziah bridges

John reconnected with Bridges and Morris a few weeks later and has continued to be in touch. He says that he mentors several entrepreneurs, but that due to the unique "Shark Tank" situation, his mentorship of Bridges was the first to be formally agreed on. "I pay attention to them just as much as I pay attention to the ones I have investments in."

Bridges tells Business Insider that John has advised him to continue to avoid investments as he builds his company, and to not grow too quickly. Rather than expand into denim, for example, John recommended that Mo's Bows expand into neckties.

John taught him to "not think about what everybody else is doing and stay true to my brand," Bridges says.

He also inspired the Mo's Bows team to acquire licensing deals with companies. It secured its first one with Cole Haan late last year.

It also secured a deal with Neiman Marcus. Mo's Bows are available on the store's online shop and in a limited brick-and-mortar release.

"It's playing out well," John says. "The product is moving."

Bridges says that his recent success has inspired his friends back home, and that John taught him that with success comes the responsibility to give to others. It's why Bridges decided to make an annual bow tie and use 100% of the proceeds to help underprivileged kids who want to attend summer camp.

Bridges plans on following in John's footsteps. "I want to have my own clothing line by the time I'm 20," he says.

John is confident he'll achieve what he sets out to accomplish, noting that when he met Bridges when he was 11 years old, Bridges had the vision and focus that John didn't have until his early 20s. Plus, Bridges has the support of his mother and grandmother.

"I'm just adding fuel to the fire, but they can't be stopped regardless," John says. "I don't want to pat myself on the back because they're amazing."

Here's the Mo's Bows update that recently ran on "Shark Tank":

SEE ALSO: Why 'Shark Tank' investor Robert Herjavec says this entrepreneur might be the best in the show's history

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NOW WATCH: 'Shark Tank' investor explains how to make a great first impression








Showtime just picked up a TV drama about a hedge fund co-written by Andrew Ross Sorkin

Mark Cuban shares the most important lesson he learned in his 20s

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young mark cuban

Shortly after Mark Cuban got his bachelor's degree from Indiana University in 1981, he moved in with some friends in Dallas and became a bartender.

After getting sick of making drinks, Cuban worked at a PC software business, where he built up a strong clientele but provoked his boss to fire him for disobeying an order.

He was left with no savings and no means to pay his bills; it was as good a time as any to venture out on his own, he figured, and so he started a software distribution company called MicroSolutions.

He partnered with an experienced executive, and soon they had a nice thing going — until their receptionist embezzled and ran away with $83,000 of the company's $85,000.

As Cuban explains in his book "How to Win at the Sport of Business," he didn't give up or seek revenge. Instead, he buckled down and spent countless hours learning about the software he sold so that he would outperform the competition. He eventually sold MicroSolutions in 1990 to H&R Block for $6 million, personally making around $2 million. It was his first big deal.

He tells Business Insider that the greatest lesson he learned in his 20s was that "with time and effort I could learn any new technology that was released."

Rather than a boast, it's a message to entrepreneurs that when you hit dire straits, your competition isn't going to slow down for you to catch up, but you can accelerate past them with the knowledge you acquire. And Cuban doesn't suggest you spend the money or go in debt for an MBA.

"I remember going into customer meetings or talking to people in the industry and tossing out tidbits about software or hardware," he writes. "Features that worked, bugs in the software. All things I had read. I expected the ongoing response of: 'Oh yeah, I read that too in such-and-such.' That's not what happened. They hadn't read it then, and they still haven't started reading it."

Cuban says that despite a minimal background in computers, he was outperforming so-called experts in the field simply because he put time and effort in. It's why, he writes, he still allocates a chunk of his day to reading whatever he can to gain an edge in the businesses he's involved in.

"Most people won't put in the time to get a knowledge advantage," he writes.

Cuban explains that college is the time you pay to learn, but "now that you have graduated, it's your chance to get paid to learn. And what if you aren't a recent college grad? The same logic applies. It is time to get paid to learn."

SEE ALSO: Mark Cuban's 3 fundamental rules for running a business

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NOW WATCH: Mark Cuban Explains How His Confidential Messaging App Cyber Dust Works








How Tom Cruise filmed the crazy plane-hanging stunt in the new 'Mission: Impossible'

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Tom Cruise has always boasted that he does his own stunts.

Whether it’s driving a race car in “Days of Thunder,” battling enemies with a samurai sword in “The Last Samurai”... 

Tom Cruise Last Samurai... Or climbing the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, in “Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol,” the megastar has prided himself on giving audiences an authentic experience.

mission impossible 4But with the release of the trailer for the new “Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation,” Cruise proved himself as one of the toughest guys in Hollywood.

In the much-hyped trailer, Cruise, reprising his role as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, ends up on a giant Airbus A400M plane and is hanging from the door as it takes off.

tom cruise mission impossible rogue nationIn today’s era of Hollywood plugging in CGI for almost anything, when watching the scene teased one would likely assume it was done in a sound studio covered in green screen with a giant fan to project the star of the movie.

But that's not Tom Cruise's style.

“I knew I wanted to have an airplane sequence. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time," Cruise told Yahoo Movies UK during an interview with director Christopher McQuarrie. "As a kid I remember flying on an airplane and thinking: ‘what would it be like out on the wing or on the side of the airplane?!’”

So after eight takes on a runway in England, Cruise's childhood dream finally came true.

mission impossible plane 1Cruise and McQuarrie were both aware that they had to top the stunt of Cruise climbing Dubai's Burj Khalifa in “Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol” (which he also did without a stunt double).

When the production designer brought McQuarrie a model of an Airbus plane, the director joked to Cruise, “What if you were on the outside of this thing when it took off?’ Cruise replied, “Yeah, I could do that.”

mission impossible plane 2Discussions began and the major concern was debris on the runway or bird strikes. According to Cruise the production spent days clearing the grass near the runway of any birds. But Cruise was also concerned about something no one else was bringing up: fuel.

“You have jet fuel coming right out of the back at me because I’m on the wing of the engine,” he said. “Even when we were taxying I was also inhaling the fumes and [it] was going in my eyes.”

mission impossible plane 3To help the fumes and any particles getting in his eyes, Cruise was given custom contact lenses that covered his entire eyeballs, but the threat of being struck by something on the runway was real.

“I remember one time we were going down the runway and there was just a little particle that just hit me, it was smaller than a finger nail,” Cruise recalls. “I was thankful it didn’t hit my hands or face, if it did I’d have a problem because those parts were exposed, but it still could have broken my ribs!”

mission impossible plane 4“When that thing was going down the runway it was everything to keep my feet down, then it went up and my body was slamming on the side. I was like whoa, this is intense," the actor tells Yahoo.

Cruise notes that he was strapped to the side of the plane from the moment the engine started to the moment it landed and the engine shut down  "The climb, the taxi, down the runway, getting the shot, leveling off, turning around and landing. And I did it EIGHT TIMES to get the shot.”

mission impossible plane 5“It’s the most dangerous thing I’ve even done, to be honest,” said Cruise. He notes that climbing a mountain in Moab for “Mission: Impossible 2” and the Burj Khalifa in “Ghost Protocol” were dangerous...

Tom Cruise Mission Impossible Ghost ProtocolBut when they got this shot, he said, “We’re not doing it anymore!”

mission impossible plane 6

SEE ALSO: The 4 most insane stunts from 'Mission: Impossible' trailers

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NOW WATCH: Watch 52-year-old Tom Cruise beat up bad guys in the new 'Mission: Impossible' trailer








A 'South Park' episode from 2005 perfectly explains Scientology's unbelievable theory of how the world began

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south park s09e12c01 free personality test 16x9Now that Alex Gibney’s new investigative documentary on Scientology, "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief" is in limited release, everybody is talking about its bombshell revelations about the church.

One of the biggest is Scientologists' answer to how the universe began and the secret of life. The incredible story that Scientologists believe involves a galactic overlord by the name of Xenu, a volcano, and souls that attach themselves to newborn babies.

The story may sound familiar, either for those who have studied Scientology or viewers of "South Park."

Back in 2005, the creators of the Comedy Central show told the same story in their famous episode, “Trapped in the Closet.

The episode follows character Stan, who, after taking a free test from the church, learns his results are so high that the leaders of the church have declared he’s the reincarnation of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.south park emeterScientologists, including John Travolta and Tom Cruise, visit Stan’s house to pay their respects. But Cruise goes to hide in the closet after Stan tells him he's not a good actor.

south park tom cruiseThis then leads to a parody of R. Kelly's rap opera, “Trapped in the Closet, as celebrities ranging from Nicole Kidman to Kelly try to talk Cruise out of the closet. While this takes place, Scientology’s president shows up to tell Stan what Scientologists believe in.

south park 2Many parts of the episode include the text "This is what Scientologists actually believe" at the bottom of the screen during the retelling, because to many it sounds so unbelievable, or like a parody.  

Here's what Scientologists believe.

75 million years ago, there was a galactic federation of planets ruled by Lord Xenu

south park 4Xenu thought his planets were overpopulated, so he gathered aliens from all different planets ...

south park 5... and had them frozen.

south park 6Those frozen bodies were packed into galactic cruisers, which looked like jet-liners, except with rocket engines, and were brought to Earth.

south park 8The frozen bodies were dumped into the volcanoes of Hawaii.

volcano scientology south park

south park 9The aliens died, but their souls floated to the sky.

south park 11Xenu had prepared for this.

south park zenuHe didn’t want their souls to make their way back to the federation of plants, so he had the souls gathered by giant soul catchers.

south park 12The souls were taken to a brain washing facility Xenu built on Earth.

south park 13They spent days being brainwashed, which tricked them into believing a false reality.

south park 14Those souls were then released and roamed the Earth confused. At the Dawn of Man, the souls attached themselves to all mankind — causing fears, confusions, and problems that still plague humanity today.

south park 16The Scientology origin stories told in both "Going Clear" and "South Park" are almost identical. The only glaring difference is that "South Park" portrays the aliens as looking non-human, while "Going Clear" says they looked exactly like people.

"Trapped in the Closet" was written and directed by "South Park" co-creator Trey Parker, and led to the show taking a lot of heat as Comedy Central delayed its airing allegedly in fear that Tom Cruise or the church would turn to litigation against the network. (The network and Cruise's reps have denied this.)

Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef on the show and also a Scientologist, quit the show once he learned what the episode would be about. 

The Church of Scientology has not denied the stories of its beliefs, and L.Ron Hubbard even gives a narration of the tale in "Going Clear" via a past recording.

"Going Clear" airs on HBO March 29.

Here’s the full clip from the "South Park" episode.

 

SEE ALSO: The Church of Scientology launched a failed Twitter campaign against HBO's new documentary

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'The Walking Dead' spinoff may finally tell us how the zombie apocalypse began

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For years, fans have wondered how the zombie apocalypse started on "The Walking Dead" and in the long-running comic series. And it looks as if we may finally find out this summer.

The first short trailer for the spinoff series, "Fear the Walking Dead," debuted during the season-five finale of the AMC show.

The companion series, which will be set in Los Angeles, hints at a flu-like virus going around.

"Fear the Walking Dead" will air on AMC in late summer 2015.

 

SEE ALSO: Everything we know about season 6 of "The Walking Dead"

AND: "The Walking Dead" may have teased one of the next big villains back in season 3

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Microsoft just dropped two trailers for 'Halo 5' and announced its release date (MSFT)

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halo 5 guardians

The next installment of Microsoft's critically important "Halo" series is officially coming to the Xbox One on October 27, according to twonew trailers for the game that debuted during Sunday night's season finale of "The Walking Dead."

Both trailers for "Halo 5: Guardians" were filmed in live action and feature no actual footage from the game, but they hint at a possible plot line: A super soldier we've never seen before named Locke believes Master Chief, the protagonist from the previous "Halo" games, to be a traitor for some reason — and from Master Chief's perspective, it sounds like he something that created unintended consequences.

Both trailers sound mysterious, but it appears the plot line for "Halo 5" will follow two different perspectives, suggesting players will be able to control two different characters: Master Chief, and Locke. You can check out the trailers below.

"Halo 5" will be the third major release from 343 Industries, the game developer that took over the "Halo" franchise since it switched hands from Bungie in 2007. 343 Industries was also responsible for "Halo 4" in 2012, and last year's "Halo: The Master Chief Collection," which bundled all four "Halo" games and included a complete visual overhaul for the classic game "Halo 2."

The "Halo" franchise is hugely important for Microsoft and its Xbox unit: The games have collectively sold more than 60 million copies across the globe and grossed more than $3.4 billion since 2001, according to Microsoft's estimates.

We first saw the news about the new trailers over at Kotaku.

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NOW WATCH: Here's Why Microsoft Is Ready To Shell Out Billions For A Simple Video Game








Here's the guy who's going to replace Jon Stewart on 'The Daily Show'

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Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah, a South African comedian, will replace Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show."

"On Monday, Comedy Central will announce that Mr. Noah has been chosen as the new host of 'The Daily Show,' succeeding Mr. Stewart after he steps down later this year," The New York Times reports.

"I'm thrilled for the show and for Trevor," Stewart said in a statement cited by The Times. 

You may be asking: who? You're not alone. That's what everyone on Twitter is wondering. Noah, 31, may be somewhat of an unknown in the United States, but Entertainment Weekly says he is "something of a superstar in South Africa, regularly selling out giant theaters for stand-up shows and scoring big numbers for his televised specials."

Entertainment Weekly reports:

Noah has been a member of the Daily Show team since December 2014, when he came on as a correspondent. So far, his contributions have been relatively limited: His first appearance was on December 4, when he riffed on Ebola with Stewart and played a very entertaining game called "Spot the Africa." He next showed up on January 22, for a report on Boko Haram that once again poked fun at the United States' lack of commitment to fighting terrorism in Africa. He last appeared on the show on March 19, when he and Stewart played chess.

Here's a video in which Noah performs "Spot the Africa":

 

SEE ALSO: Twitter had great reactions to Trevor Noah being chosen as Jon Stewart's successor

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NOW WATCH: The new trailer for Season 3 of 'House of Cards' is terrifying








Here are the 3 times Trevor Noah, the guy replacing Jon Stewart, appeared on 'The Daily Show'

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Trevor Noah

It was reported Monday morning that Trevor Noah, a 31-year-old comedian from South Africa, would replace Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show."

Noah has appeared on "The Daily Show" just three times, and people are questioning whether he is experienced enough to fill such a massive role. Entertainment Weekly points out that while Noah may not be very well known in the US, he is a big star in South Africa who sells out giant theaters for his comedy shows.

Here are the three times in which Noah appeared on "The Daily Show."

The first was a riff on Ebola back in December. He played a game called "Spot the Africa."

Then, in January, he did a bit on Boko Haram:

He played chess with Stewart in his most recent appearance:

SEE ALSO: Trevor Noah will replace Jon Stewart on 'The Daily Show'

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NOW WATCH: A lawyer in Florida has come up with an ingenious way for drivers to evade drunken-driving checkpoints








Why Tom Cruise and John Travolta can't leave Scientology, according to HBO documentary 'Going Clear'

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Scientology Church

When L. Ron Hubbard founded the Church of Scientology in February 1954 in Los Angeles, one of his main pillars in building its membership was courting celebrities.

A year after the church was founded, it created a long list of celebrities to recruit, according to Lawrence Wright's best-selling book "Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood & The Prison of Belief." The list reportedly included Hollywood royalty like Marlene Dietrich, Walt Disney, Jackie Gleason, John Ford, Bob Hope, and Howard Hughes. It's hard to find evidence of these legends ever entertaining the idea of joining the church, but it appears that Hubbard saw movie stars as a way of legitimizing Scientology.

Six decades later, Hubbard's premonition proved to be correct. Scientology, which today has only about 50,000 members, is worth over $1.2 billion, and much of its financial success is in part thanks to famous people who have fundraised, recruited, and given the church access to the upper echelon of society.
tom cruise

For years, two of the church's most prized endorsers have been John Travolta and Tom Cruise.

But director Alex Gibney suggests in his latest documentary for HBO, an adaptation of Wright's book called "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief," that it is time for Travolta and Cruise to reassess their involvement with the church, in part because of the abuse their fellow members have allegedly endured.

The film highlights numerous instances in which church members have allegedly been abused. Members have allegedly been segregated from their families and the rest of the church to do physical labor like cleaning toilets with only a toothbrush.

In the documentary, Gibney speaks with one of Travolta's closest confidants at the church, Spanky Taylor, who says she was part of a group that was punished by the church.

Taylor says she was forced to work 30-hour shifts with little food and slept on the roof of the church's Los Angeles building. She says she was pregnant at the time and away from her infant daughter, who was placed in the church's nursery in a urine-soaked crib surrounded by fruit flies. In the movie, Taylor says she reached out to Travolta for help but never heard from him.

According to the film, Cruise has also turned a blind eye to the harassment suffered by Sea Organization members, the clergy of Scientology who reportedly show their loyalty by signing billion-year contracts but get paid only about 40 cents an hour for their services. The film alleges that the presents Cruise receives on behalf of the church — like a beautiful airplane hangar or luxury limousine — are delivered on the sweat of Sea Org members.

So why are Cruise and Travolta still in Scientology?

John Travolta Kelly preston OscarsThe film alleges that the church would disclose the celebrities' deepest, darkest confessions to the tabloids if they ever tried to leave the church.

That's because the pair have reportedly spent hours and hours of their lives submitting to Scientology audits, the church's form of spiritual counseling.

When Business Insider talked to Gibney last week at HBO's New York offices, the director said he felt it was the duty of Cruise and Travolta to speak out, and he hoped the attention of "Going Clear" would make it easier for them to do so.

"I think one of the reasons we're trying to turn the spotlight on them is not to victimize them but to say you really have a responsibility," Gibney told us. "You're given an enormous amount of wealth as a movie star and with that comes a certain amount of responsibility, particularly when people are joining an organization because of you. If the popular opinion begins to swing that way, I think you can see a sea change with them."

For Cruise it may be harder to get out. The film reveals just how important he is to the church, suggesting Scientology went as far as breaking up Cruise and Nicole Kidman's marriage to bring him closer to the church after he began distancing himself around the time he and Kidman filmed Stanley Kubrick's final film, "Eye's Wide Shut," in 1998.

tom cruise nicole kidmanOrchestrated by Scientology's leader, David Miscavige, the church turned the two adoptive children of Cruise and Kidman's against Kidman, according to former Scientology executives who speak in the film.

The church allegedly told the children that Kidman was a "Suppressive Person," Scientology talk for someone who's not a believer of the church, and persuaded them to completely disconnect themselves from her.

The church also allegedly tapped Kidman's phones in an effort to convince Cruise that he needed to end the relationship.

Gibney and Wright, along with former Scientology members Mike Rinder and Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis, talked more about these issues in the film recently at a New York Times "Times Talk."

A representative for Scientology told People.com these assertions made were "utterly ludicrous" and "insulting" to Miscavige. 

Reps for Cruise and Travolta didn't respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

"Going Clear" opens theatrically in limited release March 13 and on HBO on March 29.

SEE ALSO: How a filmmaker finally infiltrated Scientology for HBO's explosive documentary

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 6 Crazy Things Revealed In HBO's Explosive New Scientology Documentary 'Going Clear'








The wife of Scientology's leader has allegedly been missing for 9 years, but HBO’s new documentary doesn't address it

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Church of Scientology

HBO’s documentary on the Church of Scientology, “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” addresses rumors that have been swirling for years about the church. But the film's director, Alex Gibney, didn't tackle one of the biggest Scientology mysteries — the current location of the wife of Scientology leader, David Miscavige.

“At the end of the day, rather than doing stone skipping and covering as much as possible in a superficial way we chose to dig in on certain things,” Gibney told Business Insider on why he left the story out of the documentary.

David Miscavige

Gibney also told BI that though there was a longer version of the film that included more details about Scientology, the story of Miscavige’s allegedly missing wife, Shelley, was never investigated and they never filmed anything about it.

Shelley has allegedly been missing since 2006, reportedly following an incident where she filled several job vacancies without her husband’s permission, as initially reported by The New Yorker’s Lawrence Wright (who would go on to write “Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood & The Prison of Belief,” the book that inspired Gibney’s film). 

To be clear, a spokesperson for the Church of Scientology has denied to Business Insider that Shelley is missing. That spokesperson called the HBO documentary a "propaganda film." (See the full statement at the end of this article.)

Church spokespeople have repeatedly denied through the years that Shelley is missing, Vanity Fair reported last year, but the rumors of her absence persist.

In 2012, Steve Hall, a former Scientologist, told BI that he believes she’s staying at the little-known “Church of Spiritual Technology,” a remote forest compound in Twin Peaks, California, near San Bernadino.

scientologyAfter actress Leah Remini, a 30-year vet of the church, left Scientology in 2013, she reportedly filed a missing persons report for Shelly with the Los Angeles Police Department. Her suspicion reportedly began years ago after noticing Shelly wasn’t with her husband at the 2006 wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, in which David was Cruise’s best man. 

Around the time of Remini notifying the police, the journalist Tony Ortega, a longtime critic of the church with his blog "The Underground Bunker" (who is also featured in "Going Clear"), reported that Shelly is at the church’s secret compound in the mountains of Los Angeles.

Here's why Shelly is allegedly banished, according to Ortega:

“Early in 2004, at Scientology’s International Base — a secretive, 500-acre compound about 90 miles east of Los Angeles, near the town of Hemet — Miscavige took his ideas about discipline to strange new lengths. A few dozen executives he wanted to punish were locked into a set of rooms that had been an office, and “The Hole” was born. Over the next several years, even more executives who had fallen from his favor were added to the bizarre and harsh office-prison, reaching about 100 total prisoners.

Around that time, Miscavige also became obsessed with the base’s “Org Board.” It was a roster of jobs that Miscavige wanted filled, but for some reason his underlings could never fill out the empty slots in the roster to his satisfaction. People who worked there at the time tell us that Miscavige’s tirades about the org board were maddening and relentless.

Then in 2005, Miscavige did something surprising — he traveled to nearby Los Angeles to work on a publishing project, and Shelly stayed behind at the base. People who worked at the base tell us it was the first time they remembered seeing the couple apart.

Shelly took advantage of her husband’s absence to fill in the org board that had proved such a headache. She also made progress on another project Miscavige had been promising to start by moving his belongings out of a set of buildings called the ‘Villas.’ She moved his things into another set of rooms called ‘the G’s,’ so the Villas could be renovated…

When Miscavige returned from Los Angeles and found the org board filled and his belongings moved, he erupted. A week later — which was sometime late in 2005 or early in 2006, our sources tell us, Shelly vanished.” 

Business Insider reached out to Scientology to comment on Shelly's alleged disappearance:

"The false allegation about Mrs. Miscavige was debunked by the Los Angeles Police Department in a statement two years ago," a spokesperson for the church told BI in a written statement. "The police declared the rumor 'unfounded' and she continues in the Church as she always has. The notion that Mrs. Miscavige is missing is a conspiracy theory among Alex Gibney and Lawrence Wright's unsavory sources. The rumor has resulted in the disgraceful harassment of Mr. and Mrs. Miscavige. It is disgusting. The Church has made information available about Mr. Gibney’s film at www.freedommag.org/hbo."

The Church of Scientology also disputed the existence of a place called "The Hole" to BI:

"This is another tired, false and offensive allegation. The only 'hole' at the Church property being referred to is on the golf course.  This again sources to the same small group of liars. This false propaganda was exposed as a lie in our video at freedommag.org/hbo/videos/exterminating-gibneys-propaganda.html."

But the so-called "hole" is featured in one of the most chilling scenes in “Going Clear.”

Former Scientology executives who claim to have been in the hole said Miscavige gathered the group in a room, put empty chairs in the middle of it, and told them to play musical chairs. He allegedly told them when one chair remained that person was allowed to stay in their position, and everyone else would be sent off to remote locations.

According to the film, Miscavige started playing the music, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and the staff began circling the chairs. When the music stopped the staff battled for seats. The fewer chairs that remained throughout the game, the more aggressive people were to get a chair, allegedly leading to punching and shoving. After one person finally remained, Miscavige told everyone in the room that he changed his mind and everyone was allowed to stay.

The group stayed in the hole and continued work on the org board, according to the film.

goingclear05

“This just is David Miscavige,” Mike Rinder, a former executive of Scientology who is featured in “Going Clear” and was involved in the alleged musical chairs incident, told reporters at HBO’s offices last week. “His personality type is sociopath. He takes a lot of things that in the hands of someone else would be innocuous and uses those as tools of weapons to abuse people.”

Scientology also disputed Rinder's comments. Rinder has since responded to BI to address the below comments from Scientology:

Scientology: "The source for these allegations, and Gibney’s primary subject, Mike Rinder, is talking about himself. Mr. Gibney and now yourself, due to prejudice and bias, have obliged in revising history for self-admitted suborners of perjury, perjurers and obstructers of justice."
Rinder: "I am no 'self-admitted suborner of perjury, perjuries and obstructer of justice' and I challenge them to produce whatever documents they say they have. This is a typical scientology sleaze. They claim [fellow former Scientology executive] Marty Rathbun admitted to doing this WHILE HE WAS EMPLOYED BY THE CHURCH and then ascribe it to me."
Scientology: "Mike Rinder admitted in a January deposition to the exact opposite of what he says to Mr. Gibney in the film and now to you."
Rinder: "No idea what they are referring to. And they don't cite the deposition or any specific statements that are 'the exact opposite.' Why not? They published portions of the deposition on their Freedom website? The entire transcript is available on Tony Ortega's site." 
Scientology: "He’s also a tainted source because he’s admitted to being paid by law firms seeking to score a payday suing the Church. You should know that just today the Church won a decisive victory in the case Rinder and his attorney clients had been hoping to hit the jackpot on."
Rinder: "Yes, I was hired as a consultant by several lawfirms. I testified in this deposition they refer to that it composed 10% of my income last year."
Scientology: "Rinder’s domestic abuse is documented by his ex-wife, brother, daughter and his ex-wife’s surgeon, and all of this would have been relevant to the film since Gibney shamelessly has Rinder lie about his ex-wife yet he didn’t ask her for comment or to sit for an interview, even when she was in New York to see him."
Rinder: "The alleged abuse is also documented by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and on BBC TV. It's covered in my blog. I didn't lie about my ex-wife. I didn't even MENTION that she came to Florida with 6 other people, followed me and assaulted me in the parking lot of a doctor's office. And the Sheriff's Office did NOT find any 'domestic abuse.'"
Scientology: "Alex Gibney and HBO cynically repackaged Mike Rinder into the poster boy for their new propaganda film. They flew Rinder around the country in five-star luxury to shill for their religious hatred, never mentioning that Rinder was expelled from his former religion for gross malfeasance. They hid that Mike Rinder can’t hold a job and his only source of income is payment for attacking Scientology. Gibney knew all this but relevant facts would have popped the phony bubble of legitimacy Gibney created around his 'star.'"
Rinder: "Funny, the same deposition they refer to, I told them EXACTYLY what I did for a living. And that only 10% of my income came from consulting law firms on scientology cases. Somehow that becomes 'can't hold a job' and 'my only source of income is payment for attacking scientology.' These people lie even when they don't need to. This isn't even relevant to any specific claim in the film, but they just have to go out of their way to somehow proclaim me as being 'unable to hold a job'? My current activities in life have no bearing on what I have to say about my experiences inside scientology."
Scientology: "And, at a time when religious hatred is spreading through the world and inciting violence, it is also irresponsible to release any film about religion with someone so obsessed with inciting hatred as Mike Rinder, an admitted liar and suborner of perjury, a paid anti-religionist and a domestic abuser.  http://www.freedommag.org/hbo/videos/mike-rinder.html"
Rinder: "Finally, why don't they address ANY of the statements I make in the film? Not one of them. Instead, they respond with ad hominem attacks. I will tell you why that is -- they CANNOT refute the truth. And they are bound by their own policy to 'always attack, never defend.'"
Scientology: "Mr. Miscavige has been successfully leading the Scientology religion for more than a quarter of a century during which the Scientology religion has expanded faster in the last 10 years than in its previous 50 years combined. Scientology parishioners worldwide hold him in the highest esteem for what he is doing for the religion."

Rinder has also included a post on his blog addressing the allegations Scientology has made against he and "Going Clear." 

This is not Gibney’s first time examining the alleged abuse of power. He was nominated for an Oscar exposing the corrupt acts by the heads of Enron (“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”), won one looking at US torture tactics ("Taxi to the Dark Side"), and has done films on the illegal methods done by “Casino Jack” Abramoff (“Casino Jack and the United States of Money”), the untruthful statements made by Lance Armstrong (“The Armstrong Lie”) and the questionable motives of Julian Assange (“We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks”), not to mention the illegal sexual conduct by the Catholic Church (“Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God”).

With his history of examining infamous characters, how does Gibney see Miscavige?

“He’s a true believer who is doing everything he can to protect his religion,” Gibney told BI. “And in that way it may be even more terrifying because at some point you can sit someone down who is not a true believer and say ‘let’s do a risk/reward analysis.’ That’s not something he’d be willing to engage in.”

"Going Clear" opens theatrically in limited release today and airs on HBO March 29.

SEE ALSO: How a filmmaker finally infiltrated Scientology for HBO's explosive documentary

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We went inside the top-secret tunnel under Grand Central that only presidents use








You can now play 'Super Mario 64' in gorgeous HD right from your web browser

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Super Mario 64 in Unity browser

The next time you're looking for a distraction, why not play a level of "Super Mario 64" right in your web browser?

It has been almost 20 years since the original game launched on the Nintendo 64, but thanks to computer science student Erik Ross, you can now play an HD remake of the first level Bob-omb Battlefield without having to dust off your old Nintendo.

While it's not an official Nintendo release, Ross has done an incredible job re-creating the finest details of the game, which he made using the Unity game engine.

"Everything is just as you remember, except some really minor stuff that nobody cared about like red coins or the Wing Cap or the Big Bob-omb," Ross writes over on his blog. "Replacing them are crowd pleasers like giant springs and coin blocks."

To control the game, you can use your keyboard and mouse or plug in an Xbox or Playstation controller.

Super Mario 64 GIF

You can download a desktop version of the level for Windows, Mac, or Linux, but it is easiest to just boot up the game within your web browser, though you'll need to take a minute to install Unity's web player.

Ready to give it a try? You can play the game by clicking here.

SEE ALSO: 15 apps for transforming your phone into the ultimate toolkit

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NOW WATCH: Facebook's new virtual reality game will make you feel like you're in 'Star Wars'








5-year-old Seth Lane was born with a life-threatening health problem, and 26 million people have watched his Snapchat story

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If you checked out the Stories section of Snapchat over the weekend, you may have found one titled, "Wear Yellow for Seth."

The story was an awareness campaign for a 5-year-old boy in England named Seth Lane, who has an immunodeficiency disorder that's commonly called "Bubble Boy Syndrome." Lane's health issue makes him incredibly susceptible to illnesses if he isn't in a completely sterile environment, which means he's spent much of his young life in the hospital.  

The boy was diagnosed when he was just a few months old and on March 27, he was scheduled to have a second bone marrow transplant which could help save his life. With the help of his parents, he asked people on social media to wear yellow to support him and cheer him up.

seth lane wear yellow for seth youtube video originalseth lane wear yellow for seth youtube video original

His parents promised to take all the images of people wearing yellow, print them out, and hang them in his hospital room.

"[Yellow] perks him up when he's feeling rubbish, really." Lane's mother told ABC. "We said we're going to hang them [photos] all up, but I think there's going to be a lot more pictures than we thought. I think we’ll need a football stadium.”

A bunch of #wearyellowforseth supports can be seen here.

wearyellowforseth

Seth's story made the rounds earlier this month. He was featured on ABC and DailyMail. Snapchat contacted the family after Lane's story started going viral. Over the weekend, Snapchat geofenced Lane's hospital and collected yellow snaps from people in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Chicago and London to let people know about the campaign.

Soon, celebrities like Ashton Kutcher were tweeting and snapping their yellow outfits to show support for Lane. Snapchat says 26 million people viewed Seth's Snapchat story over a two day period.

Here's a snap of Lane's mother, thanking all the Snapchat supporters:

#wearyellowforseth snapchat

Here's the Snapchat office supporting Seth too.

#wearyellowforseth snapchat team office employees

And here are other Seth supporters around the world who contributed to this past weekend's Snapchat story:

#wearyellowforseth snapchat

#wearyellowforseth snapchat

And here's Seth sleeping after his surgery:

#wearyellowforseth snapchat

Seth doesn't appear to be out of the woods yet. His parents wrote a post-surgery blog post here.

Here's the original video Seth's parents posted asking the world to wear yellow on March 11.

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Scientology calls HBO's documentary 'false propaganda' and slams former member featured in film

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scientology going clear

Director Alex Gibney's explosive new documentary on Scientology, which opened theatrically in limited release on Friday and airs on HBO March 29, alleges many things the church is not happy about.

One of the allegations in "Going Clear" comes from former member, Mike Rinder, who, in an on-camera interview along with other former church members, discusses an area at one of the Scientology compounds supposedly called "The Hole," where disobedient members are allegedly sent as punishment.

In an email to Business Insider, the church denies such a place even exists:

"This is another tired, false and offensive allegation. The only 'hole' at the Church property being referred to is on the golf course. This again sources to the same small group of liars. This false propaganda was exposed as a lie in our video at freedommag.org/hbo/videos/exterminating-gibneys-propaganda.html."

goingclear05Rinder, who is prominently featured in Gibney's film, even goes so far as to call Scientology's leader, David Miscavige, a "sociopath." 

The church didn't like that one, either, and in response slammed Rinder's character, calling him a "tainted source."

Rinder has since responded to BI to address the below comments from Scientology:

Scientology: "The source for these allegations, and Gibney’s primary subject, Mike Rinder, is talking about himself. Mr. Gibney and now yourself, due to prejudice and bias, have obliged in revising history for self-admitted suborners of perjury, perjurers and obstructers of justice."
Rinder: "I am no 'self-admitted suborner of perjury, perjuries and obstructer of justice' and I challenge them to produce whatever documents they say they have. This is a typical scientology sleaze. They claim [fellow former Scientology executive] Marty Rathbun admitted to doing this WHILE HE WAS EMPLOYED BY THE CHURCH and then ascribe it to me."
Scientology: "Mike Rinder admitted in a January deposition to the exact opposite of what he says to Mr. Gibney in the film and now to you."
Rinder: "No idea what they are referring to. And they don't cite the deposition or any specific statements that are 'the exact opposite.' Why not? They published portions of the deposition on their Freedom website? The entire transcript is available on Tony Ortega's site." 
Scientology: "He’s also a tainted source because he’s admitted to being paid by law firms seeking to score a payday suing the Church. You should know that just today the Church won a decisive victory in the case Rinder and his attorney clients had been hoping to hit the jackpot on."
Rinder: "Yes, I was hired as a consultant by several lawfirms. I testified in this deposition they refer to that it composed 10% of my income last year."
Scientology: "Rinder’s domestic abuse is documented by his ex-wife, brother, daughter and his ex-wife’s surgeon, and all of this would have been relevant to the film since Gibney shamelessly has Rinder lie about his ex-wife yet he didn’t ask her for comment or to sit for an interview, even when she was in New York to see him."
Rinder: "The alleged abuse is also documented by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and on BBC TV. It's covered in my blog. I didn't lie about my ex-wife. I didn't even MENTION that she came to Florida with 6 other people, followed me and assaulted me in the parking lot of a doctor's office. And the Sheriff's Office did NOT find any 'domestic abuse.'"
Scientology: "Alex Gibney and HBO cynically repackaged Mike Rinder into the poster boy for their new propaganda film. They flew Rinder around the country in five-star luxury to shill for their religious hatred, never mentioning that Rinder was expelled from his former religion for gross malfeasance. They hid that Mike Rinder can’t hold a job and his only source of income is payment for attacking Scientology. Gibney knew all this but relevant facts would have popped the phony bubble of legitimacy Gibney created around his 'star.'"
Rinder: "Funny, the same deposition they refer to, I told them EXACTYLY what I did for a living. And that only 10% of my income came from consulting law firms on scientology cases. Somehow that becomes 'can't hold a job' and 'my only source of income is payment for attacking scientology.' These people lie even when they don't need to. This isn't even relevant to any specific claim in the film, but they just have to go out of their way to somehow proclaim me as being 'unable to hold a job'? My current activities in life have no bearing on what I have to say about my experiences inside scientology."
Scientology: "And, at a time when religious hatred is spreading through the world and inciting violence, it is also irresponsible to release any film about religion with someone so obsessed with inciting hatred as Mike Rinder, an admitted liar and suborner of perjury, a paid anti-religionist and a domestic abuser.  http://www.freedommag.org/hbo/videos/mike-rinder.html"
Rinder: "Finally, why don't they address ANY of the statements I make in the film? Not one of them. Instead, they respond with ad hominem attacks. I will tell you why that is -- they CANNOT refute the truth. And they are bound by their own policy to 'always attack, never defend.'"
Scientology: "Mr. Miscavige has been successfully leading the Scientology religion for more than a quarter of a century during which the Scientology religion has expanded faster in the last 10 years than in its previous 50 years combined. Scientology parishioners worldwide hold him in the highest esteem for what he is doing for the religion."

Rinder has also included a post on his blog addressing the allegations Scientology has made against he and "Going Clear." 

The one frequent Scientology rumor the film does not address is the alleged disappearance of Shelly Miscavige, wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige, over nine years ago.

alex gibney lawrence wrightGibney previously told us there just wasn't enough time in the film to cover the story.

"At the end of the day, rather than doing stone skipping and covering as much as possible in a superficial way we chose to dig in on certain things," explained the director. 

But the Church of Scientology is adamant that Shelly Miscavige's whereabouts are part of a "conspiracy theory" and that she is not, in fact, missing.

"The false allegation about Mrs. Miscavige was debunked by the Los Angeles Police Department in a statement two years ago. The police declared the rumor “unfounded” and she continues in the Church as she always has. The notion that Mrs. Miscavige is missing is a conspiracy theory among Alex Gibney and Lawrence Wright's unsavory sources. The rumor has resulted in the disgraceful harassment of Mr. and Mrs. Miscavige. It is disgusting. The Church has made information available about Mr. Gibney’s film at www.freedommag.org/hbo."

HBO did not immediately reply to Business Insider's request for comment. 

SEE ALSO: Why Tom Cruise and John Travolta can't leave Scientology, according to the HBO documentary 'Going Clear'

MORE: The wife of Scientology's leader has allegedly been missing for 9 years, but HBO’s new documentary doesn't address it

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People were shocked after watching HBO's explosive Scientology documentary last night

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scientology going clear

Director Alex Gibney's explosive Scientology documentary "Going Clear," based on Lawrence Wright's best-selling book of the same name, premiered Sunday night on HBO.

Many viewers tweeted along as they watched, in shock of the bombshells revealed in the film:

 

 

And of course, there were the jokes:

But many people were waiting to hear a response from Leah Remini, who loudly left the Church of Scientology after 30 years in 2013.

The actress, who watched the HBO documentary on Sunday, tweeted afterward:

She later tweeted links to her posts on Instagram:

Instagram Leah Remini

Leah Remini instagram

SEE ALSO: Why Tom Cruise and John Travolta can't leave Scientology, according to the HBO documentary 'Going Clear'

MORE: How a filmmaker finally infiltrated Scientology for HBO's explosive documentary

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 6 Crazy Things Revealed In HBO's Explosive New Scientology Documentary 'Going Clear'








Carl's Jr. is out with a sexy new ad starring Victoria's Secret supermodel Sara Sampaio

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Following its sexy Super Bowl commercial that went viral, Carl's Jr. and Hardees released a new TV spot featuring up-and-coming supermodel Sara Sampaio. In the ad, the 23 year-old Portuguese beauty promotes the fast-food chain's Thickburger El Diablo.

Sampaio also models for Victoria's Secret and was voted as the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue's 2014 Rookie of the Year.

Sampaio joins the illustrious ranks of past Carl's Jr. "Burger Babes" such asParis Hilton, Kate Upton, Nina Agdal,  Katherine Webb and Emily Ratajkowski

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The Rock and Ronda Rousey laying the smack down on the WWE brass was the best moment of Wrestlemania

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ROUSEY ROCK 4

UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey, fresh off her 14-second victory over Cat Zingano, showed up at WWE's Wrestlemania on Sunday in Santa Clara, California.

Rousey joined forces with The Rock to take on Stephanie McMahon and Triple H in a segment that bridged the worlds of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.

The Rock surprised fans by interrupting Triple H and Stephanie McMahon after the real-life married couple went on a verbal tirade wherein they reminded the fans that they have full control of the WWE. After The Rock dissented, McMahon slapped him in the face and dared him to retaliate.

ROUSEY 9

The Rock appeared to be leaving the ring area, but he then walked ringside and got Rousey to jump over the barricade and confront Triple H and McMahon in the ring with him. After more verbal abuse from McMahon, Rousey got physical with the WWE brass, powerfully hip-tossing 265-pound Triple H and putting Stephanie McMahon in a submission hold.

ROUSEY ROCK 5

Now fans are speculating about a possible WWE match involving Ronda Rousey. We'll just have to wait and see. It was definitely the best moment of the show.

ROUSEY 7

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A 'Game Of Thrones' actress is coming to 'Doctor Who'

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Maisie Williams Doctor Who

Maisie Williams is a busy young woman.

She's one of Westeros' most fierce and fascinating characters on HBO's "Game Of Thrones," playing Arya Stark, which has its fifth season premiere on April 12th.

And now she's about to enter the TARDIS in BBC's decades-old show, "Doctor Who."

The show's official twitter account announced the casting today with a picture of Williams in front of the famous TARDIS console (that's The Doctor's famous space ship). According to the announcement, Williams will be a guest star in the show.

We're not sure yet how many episodes she'll be in or who's she playing yet. But the show's official website published a feature about her appearance with some quotes from both Williams and "Doctor Who" executive producer Steven Moffat.

Williams said of her casting, “I'm so excited to be working on Doctor Who as it’s such a big and important part of British Culture. I can’t wait to meet the cast and crew and start filming, especially as we’ll be shooting not too far from my home town.”

Moffat chimed in, “We’re thrilled to have Maisie Williams joining us on Doctor Who. It’s not possible to say too much about who or what she’s playing, but she is going to challenge the Doctor in very unexpected ways. This time he might just be out of his depth, and we know Maisie is going to give him exactly the right sort of hell.”

dr doctor who capaldi

The show has received mixed reviews since actor Peter Capaldi took over the role of The Doctor at the start of last season. It's certainly gone in a much different direction than the show did with the popular Matt Smith playing the doctor for three seasons previous.

Williams will act alongside Jenna Coleman who announced she'll be reprising her role as The Doctor's all-important companion Clara Oswald again for season 9.

This news will almost certainly be a popular one for fans of both "Game Of Thrones," and "Doctor Who."

SEE ALSO: See the real-life locations used in Game of Thrones

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