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Life

01st Jul 2019

13 years later, Louis Theroux will revisit one of his most notorious subjects

Rory Cashin

The controversial documentary will air on BBC Two very soon.

Back in 2006, Louis Theroux made his first visit to Kansas to spend time with the Westboro Baptist Church – a hugely controversial Christian ministry that for years has picketed at military funerals and other high-profile events with deliberately provocative and homophobic placards.

Theroux had revisited the ministry in 2011, but in 2014, their church’s founder Pastor Fred Phelps passed away, and since then the family has faced some changes that threaten to break down the once tight-knit community.

Additionally, in Trump’s America, the shock value of the Westboro Baptist Church would appear to have been dampened, in an age when over-the-top statements are pretty easy to find on a day-to-day basis.

Speaking about returning to this subject matter, Louis Theroux said: “It was exciting going back for thirds. Gramps’ angry and bigoted outlook had been the bedrock of Westboro’s practises and I was curious to see whether his death might have caused any kind of break-up or re-evaluation within the church.”

“For their own reasons – to do with spreading their twisted take on the gospels – Westboro let me back in,” Theroux added.

“For my part it was a chance to see the strange machinations of psychology, religion, and social conditioning. I feel lucky to have had the chance to conduct this kind of longitudinal documentary making.”

Louis Theroux: Surviving America’s Most Hated Family will air on BBC Two later in 2019.

Meanwhile, this clip from Theroux’s most-recent visit to the Westboro Baptist Church can be viewed below.

Clip via BBC