• Church of Scientology responds to 'hatchet-job' Vanity Fair article on Tom Cruise

    Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

    Tom Cruise.

    By The Hollywood Reporter

    The Church of Scientology has fired off an eight-page letter to Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter over its cover story about the organization, accusing the magazine of "shoddy journalism, religious bigotry and potential legal liability."

    Tom Cruise exposé in Vanity Fair: 7 shocking new revelations

    The magazine's October 2012 issue, with Scientologist Tom Cruise's ex-wife Katie Holmes on the cover, features an expose of the organization, written by Maureen Orth, that includes an allegation that the church held secret auditions to find a wife for Cruise following his divorce from Nicole Kidman.

    PHOTOS: Scientology's historic Hollywood holdings

    Among the shocking details: the women weren't told the real reason they were videotaping auditions; the chosen woman, a beautiful, Iranian-born honors graduate named Nazanin Boniadi, was cut off from her family and prompted to break off her engagement as part of her grooming period; she drew the ire of Cruise and Scientology leader David Miscavige over minor things perceived to be major acts of insubordination; Cruise would not break up with her directly and would not acknowledge her as she was forced to vacate his home; and Boniadi was banished to Scientology headquarters in Clearwater, Fla., where she was humiliated by being forced to clean toilets with toothbrushes and dig ditches in the dead of night, all the while forbidden to tell anyone what had just happened to her.

    Other allegations include: Kidman was determined by the church to be a Suppressive Person and therefore an enemy to all Scientologists; Cruise's ex-girlfriend Penelope Cruz was dismissed by Miscavige as being a "dilettante" because she refused to give up her Buddhist beliefs; Cruise "was reportedly unable to entice a number of beautiful, well-known actresses" to become his future wife, including Sofia Vergara and Scarlett Johansson; and Cruise underwent a rigorous course of auditing -- long interrogation sessions during which the subject is required to reveal painful and deeply personal information about themselves -- and Miscavige would then reveal the secrets on those tapes to entertain whomever he was with.

    On its website, the church posted a letter denying the allegations that was penned by Jeffrey K. Riffer of the law firm Elkins Kalt Weintraub Reuben Gartside LLP and was addressed to Vanity Fair's Carter.

    "We are writing regarding your, your editor’s and reporter’s shoddy journalism, religious bigotry and potential legal liability arising out of Vanity Fair’s upcoming story about the Tom Cruise divorce," reads the letter, which has been turning up on the blogs of Scientology watchers for several days. "Significantly, while Maureen Orth was preparing her story, Vanity Fair ignored its staff and contributors who have firsthand knowledge of Mr. Cruise and of Mr. Miscavige and who would burden her story with the truth."

    Riffer also accuses Orth of failing to make a legitimate attempt at a request for an interview with Miscavige, calling it a "disingenuous sham."

    "... (S)he couldn’t possibly have thought that an 'Oh, by the way' phone call to the Church’s Public Affairs office requesting an interview with the ecclesiastical leader of the religion could possibly be accommodated," the letter reads. "If she were serious, she would have done at least a molecule of research in seeing that Mr. Miscavige travels across the country and around the world almost non-stop, unlike the anti-Scientologist apostate sources who form the basis of her already-written story and who are available on a moment’s notice at the press of 'send' on any anti-Scientology hate-site blog. Is it usual for you to take over the editorial direction of Vanity Fair articles or is that reserved for hatchet-jobs of minority religions and its members?"

    The letter goes on to address a list of 32 questions submitted to the church by Vanity Fair, including one seeking comment on the notion that Miscavige has been a "kind of 'third wheel' in Cruise's relationships and marriages."It cites Miscavige's extensive travels as proof that he is "not a 'third wheel' to anything or anyone."


    STORY: Is Harvey using Scientology to market 'Master'?

    The letter also attempts to discredit Orth's sources.

    "Ms. Orth appears to have only gleaned her information from fringe hate sites and their webmasters," it reads. "If she were writing a story about a Sikh religious leader, would she first latch onto the sites of white supremacists, then interview their most virulent and violent members and follow it up with mere 'fact check' questions to the Sikhs themselves? At the eleventh hour? And refuse to give the names of her white supremacist sources?

    "The scenario is no different here. Scientology is a new religion and its beliefs not as well known as those of more ancient history. That does not excuse you or Ms. Orth for being ignorant. Rather, it demands you be even more sensitive to finding out what the true beliefs are of Scientology -- which can only be told by the religion itself. Just because you don't think you are bigoted doesn't mean you aren't. Bigotry and ignorance go hand in hand and you are definitely and wilfully ignorant of the actual beliefs of Scientology and the activities of its Churches."

    The letter, which was written before the Vanity Fair issue hit newsstands, also threatens legal action.

    "The disgraceful allegations Vanity Fair apparently plan to publish about Mr. Miscavige are defamatory," it reads. "If Vanity Fair goes forward with publication of such defamatory allegations, now that it is on notice that the story is false, the stain on its reputation will lastlong after any reader even remembers the article. The sting of the jury verdict will last longer still; far longer than any pleasure from racing to publish a poorly researched and sourced story."

    STORY: Scientology held secret auditions to find Tom Cruise a wife (report)

    Cruise's longtime lawyer, Bert Fields, also has denied that Cruise and the church held auditions for a mate.

    In a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month, Fields wrote, "Vanity Fair’s story is essentially a rehash of tired old lies previously run in the supermarket tabloids, quoting the same bogus 'sources.' It’s long, boring and false.”

    Cruise's most recent marriage ended after Holmes filed for divorce June 28 and the couple reached a settlement two weeks later.

    Fields has threatened legal action recently against the National Enquirer and other media outlets in the wake of the high-profile breakup.

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  • Fellow Scientologist Kirstie Alley defends Tom Cruise

    Getty Images file

    Kirstie Alley in January 2012.

    By Peter Gicas, E!Online

    Kirstie Alley clearly has Tom Cruise's back. The actress is coming to her fellow Scientologist's defense in the wake of the latest Vanity Fair cover story, which alleges, among other things, that the Church of Scientology auditioned a female member named Nazanin Boniadi to be the Hollywood top gun's girlfriend before he got together with Katie Holmes.
    "I think whenever you have articles written that are third and fourth parties' opinions, it's like the game Gossip and you don't get the truth," Alley tells Entertainment Tonight. "I think that a magazine of that caliber should have interviewed him, and then they would get the truth."

    Five more jaw-droppers from Vanity Fair's story

    The former "Cheers" star also spoke out regarding Scientology itself, saying, "I think that probably all religions sound bizarre to people who are not the practitioners of them."

    Read the Church of Scientology's response to the article

    She adds, "To me, it's so normal, and probably 90 percent of the crazy stuff I hear isn't true."

    See what Cruise has been up to following his split from Holmes 

    While Cruise himself has remained mum regarding the article's claim, his attorney, Bert Fields, told E! News exclusively last week that Vanity Fair's story "is essentially a rehash of tired old lies previously run in the supermarket tabloids, quoting the same bogus 'sources.' It's long, boring and false."

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  • Tom Cruise's former Scientology auditor speaks about Cruise/Kidman divorce

    By Anna Schecter
    Rock Center

    Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise's settlement is now final and neither of them has publicly addressed reports that the Church of Scientology-and the future role of Scientology in their daughter Suri’s life-was a cause of the split.

    One former Church of Scientology official is speaking out about what he said he witnessed at the time of Cruise’s 2001 divorce from actress Nicole Kidman.

    Marty Rathbun, who worked at the church for 27 years before leaving in 2004, said that he believes church officials used Scientology doctrine to turn Kidman’s children against her.

    “It was more than implied….[Kidman] was somebody that they shouldn't open up with, they shouldn't communicate with, and they shouldn't spend much time with,” said Rathbun in an interview airing Thursday, July 17 at 10pm/9c on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams.

    Rathbun said he spent countless hours working with Cruise at the church’s celebrity center in California starting in late 2001.  He said he was conducting counseling sessions with Cruise that the church calls "auditing.”

    “[Cruise] and I were intensively at it, you know, auditing several hours a day over several months,” he said.

    When Cruise’s children were with their father at the church, they were often in the hands of the Church of Scientology staff, according to Rathbun.

    “And they were being indoctrinated, and they were reporting to Tom on how that was going in my presence,” Rathbun said.

    Rathbun claims church officials suggested to Cruise and Kidman’s children, then six and nine years old, that their mother was a “suppressive person,” which the church’s website, Scientology.org, defines as “a person who seeks to suppress other people in their vicinity.”

    “A Suppressive Person will goof up or vilify any effort to help anybody and particularly knife with violence anything calculated to make human beings more powerful or more intelligent. The "suppressive person" is also known as the "anti-social personality." Within this category one finds Napoleon, Hitler, the unrepentant killer and the drug lord,” according to the official Church of Scientology's website, Scientology.org.

    Rathbun said the Church of Scientology closely monitors the communication of high profile members and orders members to sever ties with suppressive people, particularly those who are critical of the church.

    “That person could be your son, it could be your daughter, it could be your father, it could be your mother.  It doesn't matter,” Rathbun said.

    Rathbun said these policies came into play with regards to Kidman’s children, Conner and Isabella.  “They were being steered toward and indoctrinated toward coming to the conclusion that Nicole was a suppressive person,” he said.

    The Church of Scientology has denied that any such conversations with Kidman’s children took place. It has said that it has no policy that requires members to sever ties with relatives who do not believe in the religion. On the church's website, Scientology.org, it says that, "A Scientologist can have trouble making spiritual progress in his auditing or training if he is connected to someone who is suppressive...[and] as a last resort, when all attempts to handle have failed, one 'disconnects' from or stops communicating with the person."

    The church declined to comment on the divorce of Cruise and Holmes, saying it would be “inappropriate.”

    Kidman’s publicist did not respond to requests for comment on this story.  A representative for Cruise told Rock Center that Rathbun is not a reliable source.

    "He is a bitter ex-Scientologist who spends most of his time attacking Scientology and using Tom Cruise's name to get attention for his bigoted diatribe. If he "audited" Mr. Cruise, he is violating the privilege of that position by discussing it," said Bert Fields, Cruise's representative.

    Of the Church of Scientology's role in influencing Kidman and Cruise's children, Fields said, "It is absolutely false that Mr. Cruise, or anyone else to his knowledge, did or said anything to lessen Connor and Bella's communication or relationship with their mother.  On the contrary, Mr. Cruise did all he could to encourage that relationship."

    In a letter to NBC News, Gary Soter, an attorney for the Church of Scientology, wrote that Rathbun is an unreliable source and a liar.  Soter described Rathbun as “a defrocked ex-communicated apostate.”

    Soter wrote that Rathbun is a self-promoter who is “shamelessly” exploiting a tragic personal matter to forward his own anti-Scientology agenda and to profit from it.

    Scientology’s online publication FreedomMag.org contains numerous allegations against Rathbun, including charges of violent and psychotic behavior.

    Rathbun admits to violent behavior against other members of the church while still a member himself, but says it was part of the culture within the church, which the church denies.  

    One of the posts on FreedomMag.org asserts that church officials ultimately fired Rathbun from the church for bad behavior and had to “clean up his mess.”

    When asked about the allegations against him, Rathbun replied, “Then why was I assigned by the Chairman of the Board to audit Tom Cruise during the last four years of my involvement at the Church of Scientology?”

    Karen Russo contributed to this report.

    Editor's Note: Kate Snow's full report airs Thursday, July 12 at 10pm/9c on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams.

  • Rupert Murdoch tweets about Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes; calls Scientology 'weird,' 'creepy'

    By Jane Kellogg, The Hollywood Reporter

    When Hollywood power couples break up, it seems everyone has an opinion. But when Katie Holmes announced she is divorcing from couch-jumping, "I-love-this-woman!" Scientology member Tom Cruise, none other than Rupert Murdoch, News Corp.'s chief executive, opted to give his two cents. 

    "Scientology back in news. Very weird cult, but big, big money involved with Tom Cruise either number two or three in hierarchy," the octogenarian tweeted Sunday morning.

    Princess Diana biographer Andrew Morton wrote an unauthorized biography of Cruise in 2008, alleging the "Mission:Impossible" actor had become the de facto second in command of the Church of Scientology. The controversial book attacked the star by comparing his daughter with Holmes, Suri, to the Devil's child in the cult film "Rosemary's Baby."

    He continued: "Watch Katie Holmes and Scientology story develop. Something creepy, maybe even evil, about these people."


    When one of Murdoch's followers asked the mogul's thoughts on Mormons, he responded, "Mormonism a mystery to me, but Mormons certainly not evil."

    Countless people, both pro- and against Murdoch and his views, reacted to his comments. But the octogenarian is standing by his words.

    "Since Scientology tweet hundreds of attacks," Murdoch wrote. "Expect they will increase and get worse and maybe threatening. Still stick to my story." 

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