The Mormon Church Is Suing a Mormon Stories to Silence Them
The Mormon Church is suing Mormon Stories host John Dehlin! The LDS Church just weaponized a $300 billion war chest and 200 lawyers against a single podcaster, and the trademark claim at the heart of the case borders on absurd. What happens when a religion this powerful decides a critic’s branding is too close to its own?
A tax-exempt religious institution just filed suit against a former member, claiming trademark infringement as justification – trademark over the word Mormon, which the church had denounced/rebranded from. Dr. John Dehlin has hosted Mormon Stories for 21 years, interviewing believing Latter-day Saints, progressive Mormons, and ex-Mormons about Joseph Smith, the Book of Abraham, the SEC settlement over hidden billions, and everything the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would rather members not Google. In 2015 they excommunicated him hoping it would silence him. Now, in 2025 they’re taking him to federal court.
This conversation walks through the mediation demands, the rebrand backstory, and why this fight looks less like trademark enforcement and more like a Scientology-style strategy of bleeding a critic dry (in our opinion).