Cult News

In the world of celebrity endorsements companies try to find a good fit for their products with a likely face and/or popular personality to use as a spokesperson. No doubt Neutrogena skin care products thought Kelly Preston was a good match for their new line called “Visibly Firm.”

The 43-year-old actress is the wife of John Travolta, she is attractive and perhaps most importantly fits the demographic of a middle aged woman interested in “firmer, smoother, younger-looking skin,” as advertised by the company.

However, one aspect of Ms. Preston’s personal and public persona makes her involvement with Neutrogena seem strange.

Preston, like her husband Travolta, is a Scientologist and Neutrogena is an operating company controlled by the corporate conglomerate Johnson & Johnson.

Here is the rub.

Johnson & Johnson also owns Ortho-McNeil Neurologics, which produces the psychotropic drug Haldol and likewise owns Janssen, which produces Risperdal and Concerta (methylphenidate) for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. 

These are the very types of drugs so frequently and fervently denounced by Scientologists like Tom Cruise and also Kelly Preston.

Janssen says it “is focused solely on mental health and helps patients achieve healthy minds and mental wellness.”

But according to Scientology its teachings and programs are the way to “achieve healthy minds” and Kelly Preston not only believes that, she is an outspoken activist and critic of “psychotropic drugs.”

Just last year the actress and her Scientologist crony sitcom star Kirstie Alley pleaded with Florida lawmakers to prohibit schools from denying services to students who won’t take prescribed medicines to treat mental disorders.

They both supported what was reported as a “Scientology bill,” which would have effectively made their beliefs law.

Preston told legislators  that “psychiatric labelings are not actually medical disorders…[and] parents are intimidated by schools into getting psychotropic drugs for their children” She said, “Parents need to be aware of the potential dangers of these drugs.”

Mrs. Travolta doesn’t exactly sound like a booster for Janssen’s product line now does she?

How is it possible that this celebrity could be paid by a company to sell one product, after she bashed another for free?

The Scientology-linked legislation died after Governor Jeb Bush vetoed it.

“Ultimately, this bill could lead to a chilling effect on the evaluation and treatment of children with legitimate mental health needs, resulting in serious long-term consequences such as suicide or Baker Act intervention,” Bush wrote.

“The governor and lieutenant governor side with science,” Bush’s spokesman told the press.

Tom Cruise’s rants about psychiatry and Preston’s lobbying are consistent with the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Hubbard once called psychiatrists “terrorists” and the religion he created has been at war with mental health professionals virtually since its inception.

It seems odd that somehow Kelly Preston is posing for Neutrogena ads, while Johnson & Johnson is supplying drugs to Scientology’s avowed enemy of targeted “terrorists.”

Didn’t anyone at Johnson & Johnson research the selection of Preston?

Meanwhile Scientology certainly seems to have “dropped the ball” on this one.

The organization is known for its special handling and protection of church celebrities. The partnering between Preston and a Johnson & Johnson appears to be a potential embarrassment for both the actress and the church.

Certainly the wife of John Travolta, the star that once made $20 million per picture, doesn’t really need the residual income from Neutrogena commercials that badly.

And aren’t there plenty of other middle-aged actresses willing to do ads for Johnson & Johnson’s wrinkle cream?