Highlights
- An 18-year-old TikToker sparked a viral trend of “speed running” through Scientology’s Hollywood buildings
- The Church responded by removing all external door handles from its Hollywood Boulevard properties
- LAPD is patrolling the area; some incidents have been opened as hate crime investigations
The Church of Scientology has a new approach to crowd control: just remove the doors.
After a viral trend of “speed running” through its Hollywood Boulevard buildings exploded across TikTok and Instagram — racking up millions of views and a costumed cast of characters that includes a person dressed as Jesus, someone in a Sonic the Hedgehog outfit, and at least two people in hot dog costumes — the church took decisive action this week and stripped the external door handles off its Hollywood properties.
The trend began with a viral video posted in March 2026 and quickly spread as creators attempted increasingly deeper or more disruptive incursions. It all traces back to one 18-year-old TikToker known as Swhileyy, who ran through the lobby of the Church of Scientology Information Center at 6724 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood on March 31. The video soon exploded in popularity, gaining roughly 90 million views.
Participants film themselves “speedrunning” through the building, aiming to complete a task as fast as possible, per the common video game slang. That task? Map out the church’s buildings and gather as much information as possible about the organization’s inner workings.
One participant, who declined to give her name, explained the appeal with refreshing directness. “Trying to unlock as much as we can of the ‘map’ — is what they call it, to see what they have hidden,” she said. “Because they keep it very strict in there. You can’t see anything up above. It’s very secret and we want to know what it is all about.” She added that “the public wants to know what’s in there, what they are hiding.”
The Church, needless to say, is not amused.
The Church of Scientology said it is not taking the trend lightly, calling speed runs “organized trespasses” at its L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition and its information center. In a statement, the church called speed running a “viral stunt,” writing: “These are peaceful spaces designed to welcome parishioners, visitors and members of the public. Turning them into targets for viral stunts is not journalism, protest, or civic activity. It is trespass, harassment and disruption of religious facilities.”
The church specifically referred in its statement to a “large-scale incident” on Saturday, when dozens of people rushed into the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition and the church’s public information center, both on Hollywood Boulevard, without permission. “Staff members were knocked down in the chaos, and the Church is reviewing all available remedies to protect its personnel, visitors and property,” the statement said.
The Los Angeles Police Department is monitoring the ongoing trend and conducting extra patrols in the Hollywood area, having received multiple calls to Scientology buildings. Four of those calls came in on Monday alone. Police said the trend was further fueled by a post on X offering a financial incentive for videos of “speed runs.” So far, no one has been arrested in connection with participating in the trend, but officials said a couple of cases have been documented as hate-crime investigations, depending on what a suspect said or did during a “run.”
More creators started to replicate the video, with some escalating the runs with airhorns and property damage; one participant in a Florida run was arrested for shooting a window with a BB gun.
Even Swhileyy himself has had second thoughts about his monster-view moment. He told The Hollywood Reporter that he doesn’t condone anyone following his lead, saying, “I do not condone what I did, even though I didn’t break any laws. All I did was explore the building. I was never asked not to come back to the premises.” He also clarified his original intent, telling THR: “I didn’t do this whatsoever to come out against them or anything, even though that’s kind of what it looks like. Not once did I say it’s a cult or get out or anything like how the other people do it.”
Meanwhile, the church’s new fortress-mode aesthetic has taken on a life of its own. Ahsem Kabir, a musician who lives nearby, stopped by the building to check out the removed door handles. “I do get entertainment out of the speedruns. I think it’s pretty funny,” he said. “I know that technically it’s not allowed, but I think it just kind of adds to the lore of this place.”
And the comments section on TikTok has only made things more absurd. Charley Tenorio, a 20-year-old actor who lives in Hollywood, noted: “All the jokes in the comments that if they get to the top, you’ll find Tom Cruise.” Because naturally, nothing says viral internet culture like the implied possibility of a Mission: Impossible cameo.
Not everyone, though, is treating this as harmless fun. Leah Remini — actress, former Scientologist, and perhaps the church’s most vocal celebrity critic — is not here for the content farm version of activism. Remini said: “What I’m seeing now — running into Scientology buildings, harassing staff, provoking reactions for TikTok is not really exposure. It feels like it’s about clicks, and it’s turning something serious into content.”
Remini went further, arguing the stunt backfires entirely. “If someone is brainwashed for years into believing the outside world is filled with dangerous lunatics who wish to impede Scientology, a group of people running through a Scientology building is only going to confirm that belief and lead them to dedicate themselves even more to the cause they believe in,” she wrote on X.
Remini added: “This trend creates chaos, it creates a spectacle and worst of all, it hands them exactly what they want: the ability to position themselves as the victim.”
I wanted to weigh in on this recent trend of people running into Scientology buildings, causing chaos, and posting the videos on social media.
Whether these people are doing it for social media clout or to genuinely expose the abuses of Scientology, what they are doing is… pic.twitter.com/zmeTi5mFI4
— Leah Remini (@LeahRemini) April 23, 2026As for what the runners discovered in their quest to unlock the “map” — mostly hallways, screaming staff members, and a swift escort to the sidewalk. The Tom Cruise sighting remains unconfirmed.
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