Suing Marriott Hotel for Racist Book of Mormon in the U.K. - Amanda Barnett | Ep. 2207

John Dehlin (0:00)

Why would a British ex-Mormon woman sue a Marriott franchisee, a Marriott Hotel franchisee for providing a racist text or racist literature? Hello, everyone, and welcome to another edition of Mormon Stories Podcast. I'm your host, John Dehlin. It's September 22nd, 2026

And today we have all the way from the other side of the pond, fresh off the, I don't know, Mormon, Mormon, what is it, ex-Mormon Cruise? What was it called?

Amanda Barnett (0:31)

Post-Mormon Cruise.

John Dehlin (0:33)

Post-Mormon Cruise. We have Amanda Barnett from the UK. Is that right, Amanda?

Amanda Barnett (0:39)

That is.

John Dehlin (0:40)

Welcome.

Amanda Barnett (0:41)

Thank you, John. It's lovely to be here.

John Dehlin (0:43)

Yeah. What a treat. We don't always have Brits here in Salt Lake City to interview.

Amanda Barnett (0:49)

Yeah.

John Dehlin (0:49)

Well. You might be the third because we had Martin, Martin Lock.

Amanda Barnett (0:54)

Martin Lock.

John Dehlin (0:55)

Do you remember him?

Amanda Barnett (0:55)

Yes.

John Dehlin (0:56)

Do you ever know him?

Amanda Barnett (0:56)

Yeah. Well, we thought we were in the country and how could we not drop in and meet you and present our story.

John Dehlin (1:06)

And I provided a bit of a hook because at the end, we're going to talk about a legal matter that you're currently involved in, suing a Marriott Hotel franchisee for providing the Book of Mormon, but it's not a religious lawsuit.

Amanda Barnett (1:25)

No, it's not. Yeah.

John Dehlin (1:26)

No.

Amanda Barnett (1:27)

It's particularly narrow and it's about the language in the book, the racist narrative and the white supremacist message that is enshrined in that book.

John Dehlin (1:44)

Well, we're grateful that you would come all the way here and kind of break this story at least in the States with us. So thank you. And you're not alone. Who is accompanying you, Amanda?

Amanda Barnett (1:55)

My husband, Jeremy. Hi, Jeremy.

Jeremy (1:58)

Hi, hello.

John Dehlin (1:59)

You go by Jez?

Jeremy (2:01)

Either or just oy you, whatever. I'll answer many things.

John Dehlin (2:05)

Okay. And Amanda, what role will Jez be playing today?

Amanda Barnett (2:12)

As always, he's great support and always a sounding board and always somebody who will challenge me when perhaps others might not. So he's my wingman. I love it.

Yeah, great support.

John Dehlin (2:35)

And not only is he wearing a hat with the picture of a taper that says horse, but he designed that hat.

Jeremy (2:43)

Made it. Actually made it.

John Dehlin (2:44)

You made it.

Jeremy (2:45)

Literally made it.

John Dehlin (2:45)

You made it? Wait, what's the difference between designing and making?

Jeremy (2:49)

I actually cut the material and fabricated the hat.

John Dehlin (2:52)

Oh, my goodness. Yeah. And your shirt. Tell us about your shirt.

Did you make the shirt?

Jeremy (2:58)

No, I didn't. This is well, the mandible. This actually is a little bit cheeky.

John Dehlin (3:04)

Is that a word?

Jeremy (3:06)

It is. Jesus 2.0.

John Dehlin (3:09)

And it's kind of Jesus with Terminator vibes. Yeah.

Jeremy (3:11)

It's kind of I'll be back. Yeah.

John Dehlin (3:13)

Is this British humor or is this very British? It is.

Jeremy (3:16)

It's a British company that make these.

John Dehlin (3:18)

Oh, okay. Got it. Well, welcome, Jez.

Jeremy (3:21)

Thank you.

John Dehlin (3:22)

And welcome, Amanda.

And, you know, Nemo let me know. Nemo made the introduction. And I thought in addition to having you announce your story and your lawsuit that we'd first just get a traditional hour and a half Mormon story in before we talk about your lawsuit. Is that all right?

Amanda Barnett (3:44)

Yeah, absolutely.

John Dehlin (3:45)

We'll save that to the end. So, you know, you probably know if you've watched a Mormon story or two that we always begin by asking people where their Mormon story began. And because you're in the UK, I have to ask, were your parents LDS? And if so, where did their Mormon stories begin?

Amanda Barnett (4:03)

Yeah. So I think my Mormon story begins with my mother's and my grandmother's story. They both grew up in Liverpool and moved to Plymouth in 1953 And they were from a Liverpoolian background, which is quite sectarian. So they grew up in a city that was split and divided on terms of Protestant and Catholic. And I don't think either suited either of those religions, suited them. They moved to Plymouth and in 1957, so after four years, the oldest child in that family, my mother's sister, my grandmother's first child, dies aged 35

Then we move on. I'm born in 1960 and I live with my grandparents, my grandmother's parents, and in 1961, the Mormon missionaries knock on the door. And I think that those two women had, were predisposed perhaps, given their background, to accept another religious explanation, another Christian explanation. And they joined, they joined the church.