Marianne Williamson on Thursday denied reports of her abusive behavior with former staffers. The author claimed she was the victim of a hit because she was “rattling someone from the Democratic Party” with her presidential bid.
The self-help guru who preaches a message of love has been accused of throwing a phone at a staffer, throwing a rage and yelling at people until they cried.
She told Fox News that the POLITICO article was the result of “established political operatives.”
‘This is what they do. These are the hits they make. Hit pieces are coming. Ridicule comes from the press secretary to the president; the women on The View. These are the dirty tricks that mean you’re rattling someone. Someone is not happy that you are here. Someone feels threatened by the conversation you are having. So, this is what happens in politics,’ she said.
Marianne Williamson called a report of her abusing staff a ‘hit piece’
Williamson, 70, also admitted some of the allegations are true.
‘This is a bull’s-eye. I think when someone criticizes you, you should always ask yourself: is any of it true? Is 10% of it true? If 10% of it is true, then I want to correct that in myself and in my behavior. But that’s not what’s going on here. Should I learn something from any experience, including that one? Absolute. But I also think people can see through the obvious game being played here by established powers that don’t want me in the game,” she said.
The shocking new report paints a stark contrast between Williamson’s public persona teaching love, peace and forgiveness with the behind-the-scenes version of her.
The spiritual leader announced last month that she would run for president for a second time, challenging Joe Biden in the Democratic primary. Her announcement speech was peppered with her philosophy of love and light.
“We are angry with this country; we are concerned about this country,” she said at her campaign launch event on March 5. Our job is to create a vision of justice and love so powerful that it will overcome the forces of hatred, injustice and fear. ‘
But a new report in Politics paints a different picture of Williamson, including accusations of having a huge ego that overshadowed her work, replete with bouts of explosive rage and yelling at people until they cried. A dozen former staffers said she was “cruel, demeaning, and without compassion” — including firing a staffer with breast cancer.
They noted that she would yell about seemingly minor infractions, such as booking a hotel room with a walk-in shower and no bathtub.
“It would be foaming, spitting, uncontrollable rage,” said one former employee. “It was traumatic. And the experience ended up being terrifying.”
Among the incidents described: Williamson threw her phone at staffers and how she became so angry about the logistics of a campaign trip to South Carolina that she slammed on a car door until her hand began to swell.
She eventually received treatment at a local emergency room.
New allegations against Marianne Williamson accuse her of yelling at staff and making them cry – above Williamson at a September 2019 climate forum
Marianne Williamson announced this month she will challenge Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary — above, she campaigns in New Hampshire
She denied the allegations.
“These slanderous accusations are flat out false. Former staffers trying to score points with the political establishment by smearing me may be good for their careers, but the intent is to divert attention from the important issues facing the American people,” Williamson said in a statement. to DailyMail.com.
She confirmed the car incident, but noted, “A car door is not a person. I would never physically hurt anyone.’
The Politico report said Williamson feared leaks from her staff about her conduct, noting that she required staff to sign non-disclosure agreements, making it clear they would be strictly enforced.
She defended the NDAs to DailyMail.com, noting, “Staff NDAs are campaign procedural. From proprietary material to strategic planning, there is always a working legal framework for campaign communications.”
Williamson dropped out of the 2020 presidential race in January of that year, before the primary began in earnest. She had gone through two campaign managers and dozens of associates in her short candidacy.
But she had some breakaway moments as a candidate, including during a Democratic presidential debate in July 2019, when she addressed then-President Donald Trump directly, telling him, “I am going to use love for political purposes. I’ll meet you on that field. And, sir, love will prevail.’
Williamson is the author of more than a dozen books and became famous as a self-help guru. She markets her A Course in Miracles as a way to achieve inner peace. Its foundations emphasize love and forgiveness.
But Williamson has faced past allegations that she has a terrible temper. And she has been accused of running a cult with her A Course in Miracles seminars and book empire.
In an interview with Los Angeles Times in 1992, she acknowledged the criticism, saying she came across as “the bitch for God.”
Williamson rose to fame as a spiritual guru and gained an A-list following, above she is with actress Jamie Lee Curtis at a Project Angel Food event in September 2019
Williamson’s profile got a boost when Oprah Winfrey promoted her book
One person told Weekly entertainment that Williamson has a “despotic, tyrannical streak and is incapable of even hearing dissent.”
“Purely human exchange shouldn’t be where you bark orders, yell at people, have contempt for them, tell them they don’t know what they’re doing when they volunteer — she’s disgusting.”
During her failed bid for a seat in the House in 2014, a prominent Los Angeles Democrat accused her of leading a cult.
“She has some very unusual views about the world, a cult following, but she’s not a credible candidate,” said Eric Bauman, chairman of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party. L.A. weekly. “She’s done a lot of work to help people heal, but that’s no preparation to be in Congress.”
However, others have shared how her work has helped them through a difficult time.
And her defenders note that while she asks for donations at her lectures, she doesn’t need them, allowing people to come for free. Often she will talk for hours with those who want advice from her.
She founded the Los Angeles Center for Living and Profit Angel Food to deliver meals to AIDS patients and others battling serious illnesses. Her early spiritual work was advising dying AIDS patients when the disease was at its peak and poorly understood, leading to shunning and isolation for those suffering from it.
Her classes attracted several high-profile celebrities, including Madonna, Raquel Welch, Rosanna Arquette, Cher, Kim Basinger, and Barbra Streisand. She even performed at Elizabeth Taylor’s last wedding.
Williamson with Joe Biden at an event in Iowa in August 2019
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