Sci-Fi Wire
January 21, 1999 (Online)

Who Called Hubbard A Hack?

The Hollywood Reporter--a trade paper that covers the entertainment industry--says it came under fire from the Church of Scientology for allegedly calling SF writer L. Ron Hubbard a "sci-fi hack and self-made messiah." The accusation stemmed from a story the Reporter ran on John Travolta, the famous actor and well-known Scientologist who is backing a film adaptation of Hubbard's book Battlefield Earth. The Reporter says its article described Battlefield as "based on the novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard" and mentioned nothing about messiahs or hacks. The paper says the confusion started when Canada's National Post picked up the story from the wire and added its own description of Hubbard: "the sci-fi hack and self-made messiah who founded the Church of Scientology, of which Travolta is an adherent." According to the Reporter, Post editor Kirk LaPointe said the change was made by one of his editors, although he wasn't sure how.