Bono was once a priority recruit of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige according to a new interview with an ex-member of the church.
Miscavige’s niece, Jenna Miscavige Hill, told Radar Online the U2 frontman was audited and heavily targeted by the controversial religion.
“I know he was receiving Scientology auditing and was at one of the Celebrity Centre Galas,” she told the gossip site. “Why would he need auditing? Scientology markets itself to everyone, it can deal with everything from marital problems to public speaking. He’s a human, so he still needs those things. If he were to join, all the world would be Scientology!”
The singer — who grew up in a split Anglican-Catholic household in Ireland — does not belong to either church, although he does identify as Christian.
Hill, 29, also revealed in her memoir “Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology” that her uncle was intent on bringing Brad Pitt over to Scientology.
The actor was allegedly targeted in the early 1990s when he was dating actress Juliette Lewis. Pitt reportedly went through the Purification Rundown, a controversial drug detox program developed by church founder L. Ron Hubbard.
Hill said that the church goes after celebrity recruits like Bono and Pitt because they make the church more visible. She said she felt the church was geared toward having famous members.
“I think that celebrities are more inclined to be egocentric and Scientology caters for that – you’re your own God. They’re probably being told that all the time,” she said.
Hill spent 21 years in the Church, rising through the ranks to become a member of the elite Sea Org group. She left the church in 2005.
The Church of Scientology, for its part, denies Hill’s claims.
“At no time was Mrs. Hill ever privy to any ‘priorities’ or ‘strategies’,” a church spokesman told the site.
“As a result, she is in no position to comment and any claims to the contrary must be viewed with skepticism. Our priorities are and always have been the establishment and expansion of the Scientology religion. In furtherance of this is the establishment of 37 new Scientology churches in major metropolitan areas and cultural centers around the world in just the past few years.”