LDS church sues to stop excommunicated podcaster from using ‘Mormon’ label

Summary

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is suing the Mormon Stories podcast over its use of the word “Mormon.”
• Podcast founder John Dehlin argues the term is a cultural and religious identifier that cannot be exclusively controlled through trademark law.
• The lawsuit alleges the podcast’s branding could confuse the public into believing it is affiliated with the church.
• The case raises questions about trademark protection, religious branding, and First Amendment free speech rights.

In 2018, the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that the Lord had commanded halting the use of the word “Mormon” to describe members of the 200-year-old faith group.

Continuing to use the colloquial term “Mormon” would be “a major victory for Satan,” then-President Russell M. Nelson told a church conference. The name switch came from “the savior,” he said, and “is not negotiable.”

The church, which considers its presidents to be prophets, changed the wording on its websites, organizational documents and publicity materials and asked the public to stop using “Mormon,” saying only the full name – the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – is correct.

But the church is nevertheless staking a claim to the forbidden moniker, suing a prominent podcaster whose show “Mormon Stories” is critical of the denomination. The lawsuit argues that the church largely controls the word “Mormon” because it used the term for so long and is so closely associated with it.

This week, “Mormon Stories” filed an 108-page response in federal court in Utah, saying the church shouldn’t be able to trademark and control a word that the podcaster sees as equivalent to terms “Christian” or “Jew.”

“Mormonism” goes far beyond the institution, podcaster John Dehlin says, encompassing millions of former or critical Mormons who have a First Amendment right to discuss their culture, history and doctrine.

“What can we call ourselves if we can’t use that term, or fear the church could sue any of us? What are we talking about if it’s not Mormonism?” Dehlin, who is asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, said in an interview.

He claims some 800,000 subscribers to the show across multiple platforms, and millions of views and listens each year. The audience is about half non-Mormon and otherwise a mix of current or former members of the church.

There are millions of people who used to be active in the church, Dehlin said, “but aren’t now, but have Mormon family, Mormon background, a pioneer heritage, a connection to church music, Utah food. It’s analogous to being Jewish as a broader culture.”

In recent years there have been a growing number of pop culture references to Mormons, including reality shows the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” and the “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” as well as the long-running musical “The Book of Mormon.”

In 2023, Heather Gay from “Real Housewives” tried to trademark the term “Bad Mormon,” the name of her memoir. The church pushed back, and Gay’s trademark case ended.

The U.S.-born church has struggled with acceptance in this country throughout its 196-year history. In a 2022 Pew Research poll, members of the LDS church received the lowest favorability rating among Americans of the seven religious groups included. Earlier this month, prominent members of the church complained to President Donald Trump after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reorganized the coding for religious groups in the military in a way that excluded the LDS church from Christianity.

The desire to be understood as Christian was a key reason the church in recent years changed all its marketing material to remove the word “Mormon” and replace it with the full moniker that includes the words “Jesus Christ.”

But many Christians don’t consider the church part of Christianity for multiple reasons, including that Mormons believe their church restored the real church after centuries of apostasy, and that modern prophets continue to reveal religious truth, including through scriptures like the Book of Mormon.

Dehlin, who founded “Mormon Stories” in 2005, said he is a sixth-generation church member. He still considers himself a Mormon despite being excommunicated in 2015 for apostasy after publicly questioning some church doctrines.

He and the LDS church have gone back and forth since last fall about issues such as whether the podcast’s disclaimer about not being connected to the church was prominent enough, and whether its use of teal blue on its website was confusing the public, as the church uses a similar color.

In its April lawsuit, the church noted the many patents it holds on images it uses, and said Dehlin “knowingly and intentionally” created its branding “with the intent to cause confusion” and to make the public think his podcast is part of the official church.

“Such confusion, mistake, and deception constrain the Church’s ability as a religious organization to ensure its members and others seeking information about the Church can identify, recognize, and trust that materials and services they receive are the Church’s legitimate and authorized materials,” the lawsuit says.

In a public statement after filing its lawsuit against Dehlin, the church said it holds trademarks “covering certain uses of the term ‘Mormon,” including in educational contexts. “Not every use of the word requires permission. But when it is used as part of organizational branding in ways that create confusion about affiliation, the Church has a responsibility to address it,” the statement reads.

But Dehlin and his lawyers say he is well-known in church culture as a dissident, and that the church never raised an issue with the name of his podcast until this past fall, by which time it had – he argues – “abandoned” the word “Mormon.”

“We don’t believe anyone can or should or does own the word,” Dehlin said.

Bill Reel, founder of a network of shows and podcasts called “Mormon Discussions” said that he was contacted by a paralegal working for the church in 2025 after he tried to trademark “Mormon Discussions” and the podcast name “Radio Free Mormon” to protect against competitors.

In a November email shared with The Washington Post, the paralegal told Reel that the church “respects your right to free speech and has no desire to censor … However, the Church has an obligation to protect its MORMON trademarks as unique identifiers to prevent confusion.”

The letter threatened legal action but said the church first wanted to ask Reel to voluntarily give up his effort to trademark the names. He did.

While he didn’t hear anything further from the church, Reel said he is worried about whether the Dehlin case could impact the “Mormon Discussions” network.