Marianne Williamson is accused of having a terrible temper, which has staff crying

Marianne Williamson, the self-help guru who preaches a message of love, has been accused of doing the opposite, including throwing a phone at a staff member, throwing rage and yelling at people until they cry.

A shocking new report Thursday paints a sharply contrasting picture between Williamson’s public staff, who teaches love, peace and forgiveness, and the behind-the-scenes version of her.

The spiritual leader announced in March that she would run for president a second time, challenging Joe Biden in the Democratic primary. Her announcement speech was peppered with a philosophy of love and light.

“We’re upset with this country, we’re worried about this country,” she said at her campaign launch event on March 5. ‘It is our job to create a vision of justice and love so powerful it can overcome the forces of hate and injustice and fear.’

But a new report in Politico paints a different picture of Williamson, 70. And it echoes accusations that have been circulated about her since she burst onto the spiritual scene in the 1990s, where former associates accused her of having a massive ego , which overshadowed her work, a screaming temper and a lack of compassion, including the firing of a staff member with breast cancer.

New allegations against Marianne Williamson accuse her of yelling at employees and making them cry – above Williamson at a climate forum in September 2019

Williamson attracted celebrity with her spiritual teachings, and thousands of people say she has helped them through difficult times in their lives.

But former employees describe a different experience when it comes to working closely with her. A dozen former employees said she was cruel, demeaning and had episodes of explosive anger.

They noted that she was yelling at seemingly minor infractions, such as booking a hotel room with a walk-in shower rather than a bathtub.

“It would be a seething, spitting, uncontrollable rage,” said a former employee. “It was traumatic. And the experience ended up being terrifying.”

Among the incidents described: Williamson threw her phone at co-workers and how she became so annoyed with the logistics of a campaign trip to South Carolina that she banged on a car door until her hand swelled.

She was eventually treated at a local emergency care facility.

All 12 former employees told Politico they recall incidents where Williamson yelled at people until they started crying.

She denied the allegations.

“These libelous allegations are categorically false. Former employees trying to score points with the political establishment by slandering me could be good for their careers, but the intent is to divert attention from the important issues facing the American people,” Williamson told the DailyMail .com in a statement.

She confirmed the incident involving the car, but noted, “A car door is not a person. I would never physically hurt anyone.’

Williamson feared leaks from her employees about her behavior, the Politico report said, noting that she required employees to sign non-disclosure agreements to make it clear that they would be strictly enforced.

She defended the NDAs to DailyMail.com, noting: “NDAs for employees are procedural for campaigns. From copyrighted material to strategic planning, there is always a working legal framework for campaign communications.’

Marianne Williamson announced this month that she will challenge Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary — over her campaign in New Hampshire

Williamson rose to fame as a spiritual guru, attracting an A-list following, above she is with actress Jamie Lee Curtis at a Project Angel food event in September 2019

Williamson withdrew from the 2020 presidential campaign in January of this year, before the primary had started in earnest. She had passed through two campaign managers and dozens of staffers in her brief candidacy.

But she’s had a few breakout moments as a contestant, including during a Democratic presidential debate in July 2019, when she addressed then-President Donald Trump directly and told him, “I’m going to use love for political ends.” I will meet you on this field. And, sir, love will triumph.”

Williamson is the author of more than a dozen books and rose to fame 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 been accused in the past of having a terrible temper. And she was accused of running a cult with her seminars and book empire, A Course in Miracles.

In a 1992 interview with the Los Angeles Times, she acknowledged the criticism, saying she came across as “the bitch for God.”

In the 1990s, after Williamson burst onto the scene thanks to Oprah Winfrey blessing her book A Return to Love, several profiles of the spiritual guru mentioned her anger issues along with internal issues at the Los-based charity she founded, Centers for Living Angel.

Reports from the period accused Williamson of having a runaway temper and uncontrolled ego, as well as a cruel leadership style.

She was accused of putting a worker on parole at her New York charity’s office a week before the person was scheduled to have a double mastectomy. The employee was then fired and forced to haggle for months for health insurance.

“Marianne is a tyrant. She’s – unnecessarily – cruel and very controlling,” one of her former employees told People magazine in 1992. “That doesn’t mean their work isn’t great. They are. But her own ego will destroy her.’

Another of her associates said at the time: “Marianne’s ego is everywhere. When she’s angry, it’s like watching a 3-year-old throw a tantrum. I saw her bring a volunteer to tears and swear he would never come back.”

Williamson’s profile got a boost when Oprah Winfrey promoted her book

Williamson with Joe Biden at an event in Iowa in August 2019

One person told Entertainment Weekly that Williamson has a “despotic, tyrannical streak and an inability to even hear contradiction.”

“Purely human exchanges shouldn’t consist of barking orders, yelling at people, scorning them, telling them they don’t know what they’re doing when they’re volunteers — she’s disgusting.”

During her failed bid for a seat in the House of Representatives in 2014, a prominent Los Angeles Democrat accused her of running a cult.

“She has some very unusual views on the world, a cult following, but she’s not a credible candidate,” Los Angeles County Democratic Party leader Eric Bauman told LA Weekly. “She’s done a lot of work helping people heal, but that’s not preparation for being in Congress.”

However, others have spoken about how their works have helped them when they have gone through difficult times.

And her defense attorneys note that while she asks for donations at her lectures, she doesn’t need them and lets people come for free. She often spends hours talking to those who want her advice.

She founded the Los Angeles Center for Living and Profit Angel Food to provide meals to AIDS patients and others suffering from serious illnesses. Her early spiritual work was counseling dying AIDS patients at a time when the disease was at its peak and not well understood, resulting in those suffering from it being shunned and isolated.

She formed her teachings from A Course in Miracles, a 1,200-page tome she saw on a friend’s coffee table. She did not write the book, but is one of its most famous prophets.

The book was dictated by Helen Schucman, who in the 1960s claimed she heard an inner voice dictating what to write about the faith. For seven years she recorded what became a three-volume work. She later said that the voice that dictated it to her was Jesus.

Williamson began teaching courses based on the book’s principles, and from this her following grew.

Her classes attracted a number of high profile celebrities including Madonna, Raquel Welch, Rosanna Arquette, Cher, Kim Basinger and Barbra Streisand. She officiated at Elizabeth Taylor’s final wedding.

In 1991 she told Vanity Fair, “I didn’t write ‘A Course in Miracles.’ I only give a book report. No one comes to A Course in Miracles thinking that I personally have the answer. The course attracts a very sophisticated type of thinker; It’s not a path for people looking for someone to do it for them. It’s a lifelong study and there is no graduation day.’

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk