Even though Rock of Ages won’t hit theaters until June 15, the Hollywood powers that be have decided that the world will not soon tire of watching Tom Cruise work it as a has-been rock star. In fact, the gloriously painful trailer and images of Tom rocking out on a balcony have been caused so much buzz that filmmakers on the upcoming A Star is Born remake are trying to recruit Tom for the male lead in a revamped story of the love affair between a young musical ingenue and a washed-up rock star. Presumably, Cruise would be the Kris Kristofferson to Beyonce’s Barbra Stresand. Sounds like a total nightmare, right? It could totally happen:

EXCLUSIVE: Tom Cruise is talking to Clint Eastwood about joining Beyonce in A Star Is Born, the Warner Bros remake. This comes after Cruise morphed into an Axl Rose-like 80s rock icon in Rock of Ages, so he’d be able to handle the singing part of that comes with playing an over the hill musician who helps launch the star of an ingenue he falls in love with and who watches him slide while her star soars. We have no idea if Cruise will say yes, or if the schedules will mesh since he’s just beginning shooting on the Joseph Kosinski-directed Oblivion, followed by the Doug Liman-directed All You Need Is Kill Are for Warner Bros. The film has drawn the interest of top talent, but it has taken a long time. Some of that had to do with Beyonce’s pregnancy, but she’s ready to shoot as soon as June. The studio at various times has discussed everyone from Will Smith to Christian Bale, Eminem and Russell Crowe, and the addition of Eastwood makes the whole thing more attractive. Deadline revealed that Cruise might take on Rock of Ages at an early stage, so who knows?

[From Deadline]

So rumor has it that Warner Bros is attempting to aggressively court Tom for the role, and Variety points out that it’s a positive sign that Tom “didn’t immediately reject” all talk of his participation in the male starring role. Should he choose to accept this mission (har har), this would be the first time for Tom to pair up with Clint Eastwood.

However, Tom is a very (inexplicably) busy man at this point, and if I had to take a guess, I’d say that scheduling matters will muck up the Cruise casting. After all, Beyonce is apparently chomping at the bit to get back to work, and Clint probably wants to get the hell out of his house while his wife films the Reality Show of End Times. Speaking of which, maybe all of that reality television nonsense has been messing with Clint’s mind and chipping away at his cool factor even before the show has aired. How else would one explain Clint’s decision to remake A Star is Born? With or without the involvement of the Unhinged Lift Wearing Midget, this project is just all around bad news.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and AllMoviePhoto

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes attended last evening’s Vanity Fair Oscar party after Tom presented the award for Best Picture and gleefully towered over Uggie in the process. As such, he probably felt manly enough to wear his “medium” dress shoe lifts while escorting his Xenu-ed wife to an afterparty. Katie really looks zoned out here, and I think her hair is a prime example of what Kaiser often describes as “bangs trauma.” That fringe is seriously overdone and ages Katie substantially. She’s only thirty-three years old but could’ve passed for forty with those bangs.

Now let’s talk about Katie’s dress. It’s a midnight blue Elie Saab with an embellished bodice that also boasted a faux-transparent effect in the boob area. The dress itself isn’t bad, but it makes Katie look …. rather pregnant. I don’t think that she actually is with child — it’s probably more of a combination of a dress that’s poufy in the midsection and Katie’s questionable posture. She’d probably look much better if she stood up straight and used her dancer’s posture, but I believe she’s used to slouching next to Tom. In addition, the gold chain is a wee bit tacky, and the makeup job is too precious for words with severe eyeliner to boot. Overall, Katie’s in serious need of some battery recharging.

Now let’s go in for a closeup on Katie and Tom. He looks less tweaked than he did a few months ago, right? Those expert facelifts must have settled in a bit.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

Scientology Leader David Miscavige, a.k.a., “The Tiny Tyrant”

While celebrity Scientology members continue to bury their heads (and in Tom Cruise’s case, his lifts) in the sand, things are heating up in the potential civil war within the cult. In early January, Debbie Cook (a former high ranking member of the Scientology’s Sea Org and captain at Flag Service Org in Clearwater, Florida) sent out a mass email critiicizing leader David Miscavige’s fundraising practices to thousands of CO$ members. Cook, who remains a member in good standing, claims that her motivations in sending the email is to speak out against the leadership of Miscavige, whose methods Cook believes are diametrically opposed to the original doctrines of L. Ron Hubbard. If Miscaviage could possibly do so, he’d have had Cook knocked off for her public display of insubordiation. However and with the help of international press on her side, Cook remains physically safe for the time being, and even notorious “apostate” Mark Rathbun wrote that Cook was “not in imminent danger.”

Here’s the thing — circumstances have been never been great for the lowly, non-famous members of the CO$. But thanks to the internet (and the collective power of Anonymous), the general public is more aware of the cult’s moneygrubbing practices, and people are far less likely to fall into this soul-sucking, life-altering trap. So it suffices to say that recruitment numbers are way down and very little revenue is tricking into Miscavige’s clutches. And he is not a happy camper, so punishments have increased over the past several years. Debbie Cook has now moved past the email stage and has now testified in court about how she was imprisoned in an ant-infested trailer for 45 days called “The Hole.” The Mail has the scoop:

A senior Scientologist was locked up, beaten and tortured by the controversial religion’s tyrannical leadership, a court has heard after an attempt by the Church to silence her spectacularly backfired.

Debbie Cook, who was one of the organisation’s most respected executives before she quit in 2007, testified that she was held for 45 days in a crowded, ant-infested trailer in the California desert.

The 50-year-old also claimed to have witnessed Scientology chairman David Miscavige, a friend of celebrity follower Tom Cruise, punch another senior executive in the face before wrestling him to the ground. And she told the court in San Antonio, Texas, that Mr Miscavige ordered his secretary to slap her, sending her tumbling into chairs.

Her testimony is hugely embarrassing for the Church, which took legal action to prevent her from revealing the exact details its lawsuit has now allowed her to expose in court. They claimed breach of a confidentiality agreement she signed when leaving the Church in 2007. The organisation then suddenly withdrew from the legal proceedings after Mrs Cook’s blistering testimony on the stand.

Mrs Cook claimed that in the summer of 2007 she was one of 100 Scientology executives imprisoned in a large trailer known as The Hole. Describing the conditions, she said: “It had bars on the windows and the one entrance was guarded by security 24 hours a day. The place was infested by ants, so ants would crawl on you, and there was a two-week period when the electricity had been shut off, as ordered by Mr Miscavige. This was of course in summer in the desert so the temperature was about 106F.”

Mrs Cook said she was forced to partake in “confession” sessions during which she stood in a dustbin for two hours while water was poured over her head and abuse screamed in her face. One senior executive who upset the Scientology leadership was made to lick a dirty floor for half an hour, she said.

Her court appearance comes after she sent a shock email denouncing Mr Miscavige to 12,000 Scientologists just minutes after midnight on New Year’s Day. She accused him of turning the Church into a tyrannical regime in direct conflict with the doctrine laid down by founder L Ron Hubbard in the 1950s.

Writing under a banner of “Keep Scientology Working,” Mrs Cook called out Mr Miscavige for “hoarding” more than $1billion acquired through fundraising and then spending millions on building unnecessary, lavish facilities that lie empty.

The Church applied for an injunction, claiming this email breached a confidentiality agreement she signed when leaving the organisation with a $50,000 pay-off in 2007.

But Mrs Cook told the court this had been signed under severe emotional duress, so broken was she after her treatment. She said: “I would have signed that I stabbed babies over and over again and loved it. I would have done anything.”

Followed everywhere she went, Mrs Cook said: “I called my mother and told her if I wasn’t out in three days to call the police.”

In her New Year’s email, Mrs Cook confirmed her continued commitment to the Church and called on her fellow worshippers to usher in an era of change.

It is thought that the reason she emailed thousands of worshippers was to get around the “long and harsh” disciplinary action endured by those who question Mr Miscavige’s methods. She claimed it was her conscience that caused her to speak out.

[From Daily Mail]

The Village Voice (always on the forefront of CO$ coverage) has more from Cook, who stated that her testimony thus far was “a very small sample of the physical abuse committed behind the closed doors of the International Scientology Base.” The CO$ asked the court for a temporary injunction (to keep Cook from talking until trial), which was denied. Since then, Cook has sat down for a video interview with the Voice as well. Several other details have emerged, including Cook’s terrifying description of the moment that she was taken prisoner (she was on the phone with Miscavige: “Somebody pried the window open, two big guys came in. Mr. Miscavige said on the phone, ‘Are they there?’ Yes, I said, they are. And he said, ‘Goodbye.’“) Cook also asserts that part of her torture included homophobic hazing as well.

Interestingly enough within the video interview with the Voice, Cook has stated that she still considers herself loyal to the teachings of Scientology that were originally laid out by L. Ron Hubbard. Her main problem is how the church is being run by Miscavige. This is a tricky subject, and if you’re interested in learning more about how Miscavige rose to power, I suggest that you read Janet Reitman’s Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion. Among other topics, the book details how Miscavige — who started out as one of many messengers that served L. Ron Hubbard — managed to isolate the cult’s founder during a period of extended illness that led to his death. Through a series of convoluted, complex maneuvers, Miscavige managed to extract overriding authority from Hubbard to the point where he was allowed to assume leadership after Hubbard’s death. And because the CO$ has always been a hotbed of paranoia, nobody fully questioned Hubbard’s apparent decision to replace himself with little Napoleon boy.

Under Miscavige’s direction, treatment of Sea Org members (which were already bad) took a turn for the worse. David’s own niece, Jenna Miscavige, talked to Nightline a few years ago about how she endured a childhood of slave labor (14+ hour days, 7 days per week) and lived in fear every time she caught the sniffles because it resulted in massive interrogation over either being or having an association with a suppressive person. Defection has become an increasingly common occurrence, and high-profile ex-members like Jenna have helped inform the public of what really occurs within the cult. So it comes as no surprise that recruitment is down, which means that revenue has drastically fallen as well.

Meanwhile, The Voice has called out Tom Cruise in spectacular fashion in an Open Letter that’s well worth reading. I agree wholeheartedly, and it’s time for Tom to take the blinders off and face that his “religion” is really a cult. If Tom (and John Travolta) walked away from the CO$, that would truly set the wheels in motion for it to irrevocably crumble. It’s too bad that they’re too chickens-hit to leave their comfy roosts and do so.

Photos courtesy of Freedom Magazine

(Note: These photos are not from the event in question, but I thought it’d be fun to look back at some photos of Tom and Nicole, circa 1998. And look — it’s Brad Pitt narrowly escaping the clutches of Scientology!)

There’s a new book from former Universal executive Sally Van Slyke coming out soon called Wild Thymes: Catering to the Egos of the Hollywood Elite. During her fifteen-year run, she advanced from publicist to executive at the studio; as a result, she had more than one run-in with the likes of Tom Cruise. Of course, the book will also detail some stuff about other A-list celebrities as well, and Van Slyke will dish on why Robert Redford “hates her guts,” how Oliver Stone accused her of “personally f*&@ing my film,” and how Arnold Schwarzenegger once made derogatory statements about the Special Olympics. Oh, Ahnold.

More details about the book are available on the author’s website, but for now, let’s focus upon an interesting excerpt that deals with Tom Cruise. Van Slyke includes details about how Tom demanded that she attend Scientology classes (background on his unending involvement with the cult is available here) so that they could work better together. Also, there was an incident involving Tom’s insecurity about his stature. We all know how Tom is ultra-sensitive about his height and has developed an extreme love for wearing lifts to add up to four inches to his given height. Well there was one incident that Van Slyke witnessed when a paparazzo snapped a photo of Nicole Kidman removing her high heels, and Tom absolutely flipped out about it. Here are the amusing details:

Tom Cruise once told me that to work well with him I needed to study Scientology. He wanted me to take an introductory class at their Los Angeles Center. Pat Kingsley, the most renowned Hollywood publicist at the time, who had just signed the Cruise account, would take the class with me.

I was outraged by what I interpreted to be a subtle threat. I bluntly, mincing no words, informed Tom I wasn’t that interested in working well with him. My seemingly nonpolitical retort certainly brought the house of wrath down on my head. Tom called my Chairman. The Chairman wanted to know what the hell was wrong with me? He flatly told me that my job was to do anything I had to to make things copasetic with the talent.

Bull sh-t. Last time I read it, the Constitution gives me the right to the religion, faith or spiritual belief, or lack of, of my choice. I don’t force my beliefs on anyone and I don’t let anyone force theirs on me. After all, I’d been through this firestorm before.

Pat took the training. I refused.

Perhaps Tom Cruise is more then just a star. Perhaps he is a good actor. I confess I’m simply not the one to judge. I worked with Tom on several films in which he starred. I found him to be a calculated cunning man. The overworked smile, the jumping into crowds with such overwhelming manic exuberance. From my perspective it all seemed slightly condescending and staged. He was Mr. Wonderful on steroids. Or am I being too glib?

Behind the scenes it was much different. When you crossed the guy even slightly there was big trouble. One day at a ShoWest convention in Las Vegas a photographer caught Nicole Kidman and Tom backstage. He began to photograph the famous couple. Nicole was wearing heels. She realized that in the pictures she would appear a lot taller then Tom. We all knew Tom was obsessive about being rather short and compulsive about appearing taller then Nicole in pictures. So, Nicole immediately kicked off her shoes but the photographer managed to snap a picture of the move.

Whereupon, Tom freaked. He pulled me aside and commanded that I “get that roll away from him now” with unbridled rage beginning to brew.

I stepped in. “Excuse me, but Tom and Nicole would be glad to pose for you, however, we don’t want any unflattering photographs of their feet so please give me the roll of film in your camera and we can start again.”

This confirmed what the photographer already suspected. He had a shot that would result in a big pay day for him.

“You need to give it to me now or I’ll have to call security” I said sternly.

“Ah Sally, give the guy a break…” I couldn’t believe what Tom was saying. He was playing Mr. Nice Guy for the camera. What a jerk.

“No Tom, I feel strongly about this” I continued to insist, knowing full well that if I failed to get the roll of film my ass would be grass.

A tussle soon ensued. Tom ducked. The bodyguards came in, took the guy’s camera, pulled the roll out, exposed it and left it hanging there. All the while Tom laughed and apologized to the crowd of conventioneers that had now gathered glued to the sight. He actually patted the photographer on the back. Mano de mano.

“No hard feelings man. These publicists are so uptight” he said “gives them something to do.”

Yeah, right Shortie.

[From Wild Thymes]

I love how the author describes Tom as “Mr. Wonderful on steroids” because that’s a near-perfect description of his facade. Of course, Tom just can’t hide the crazy because, ultimately, he is the Unhinged, Lift-Wearing Midget for the ages. Poor Tom. He just needs to embrace the shortness like Al Pacino did in The Godfather movies. Short dudes can be really hot, but Tom’s over-the-top measures to look like a basketball player really kill any potential for sexiness.

Now here’s a trip back to memory lane and the set of Days of Thunder. You just know Tom was wearing mega-lifts for that movie.

Photos courtesy of WENN

These are some new photos of Tom Cruise and little Suri at Disneyland yesterday. I think these are sweet photos – as much as we bitch and moan about Tom Cruise and his lifts of delusion and his Xenu-centric lifestyle, he’s a pretty-hands-on dad, and he adores Suri. I think it’s adorable to see a father spending the day with his young daughter doing activities that he knows SHE will enjoy. Although… Suri’s got a look on her face like, “I was told there would be more princesses!”

Like Alice herself, Suri Cruise spent the day in wonderland on Wednesday, as her dad Tom Cruise treated her to an outing at Disneyland – including a spin in the Mad Tea Party.

Sporting a purple dress and a pink top with white polka dots, Suri, who’ll be 6 in April, found time to get pink-and-purple face paint in a swirling design around her eyes.

There was no sign of mom Katie Holmes, but Tom, 49, looked relaxed and happy, in jeans and a blue-and-white striped T-shirt, as he enjoyed the father-daughter bonding time at the Anaheim, Calif., resort.

[From People]

See? Nice. Nothing scandalous. Tom just had a day off and decided to spend it with his daughter, who… I guess she’s being home-schooled at this point? There were rumors of Suri’s enrollment in a Scientology school last year, but Katie seems to have taken Suri out of the school for NY Fashion Week, and then Suri just never returned. Tom is still riding high after Mission: Impossible 4 did so well at the box office – Cruise is back, bitches! So expect more photos of Tom showing off his good-dad cred!

UPDATE: Just adding another photo of Tom & Suri in the teacup!

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Last August, we covered an In Touch story that detailed Katie Holmes’ life of constant surveillance and control, which was based upon Scientology’s possession of “damaging” secrets gathered from extensive auditing of all celebrities who are dumb enough to become members. The story included details of Tom’s household staff, who are also all Scientologists and who are encouraged (even required) to report all of the ongoings within the Cruise home. There was also the implication that Tom and Katie were largely ignorant of their staff’s spying practices but that, to a degree, they also turned a blind eye because their lives are pretty comfortable, and why rock the boat?

Indeed, that boat will not be rocked. Cruise has reached OT Level VIII (and has gained amazing superpowers as a result!), so he’s basically a Scientologist lifer. Even though he underwent an emergency PR makeover to cover the crazy while promoting MI4, he’s still such a die hard that he “lovebombs” his own wife. At this point, even if he wanted to get out, the cult knows so much about him that it’s just not worth it. He’s staying put and enjoying his free slave labor that plants wheat fields and refurbishes vehicles just to keep Tom happy. In exchange? Scientology gets ownership of all of Tom’s filthy secrets. This happens at the behest of the current head of Scientology, David Miscavige, known to many simply as the “Tiny Tyrant”, which sort puts a new spin on why he and Tom get along so well. I mean, Tom even took the dude along on his honeymoon with Katie Holmes. To put it bluntly, Tom and David are thick as thieves:

Of course, Miscavige isn’t exactly a loyal friend (or whatever you want to call it) to Tom. The guy not only ordered all of Tom’s auditing sessions to be videotaped but also got drunk at parties and read Tom’s confessions aloud to all to hear. Then again, Scientology is an organization built upon spying on others for use in intimidation. Even the children of Scientology are programmed to tattle on their parents so that the CO$ automatically knows of potential defectors. It’s sketchy as hell in so many ways.

Now there’s a new article in today’s Village Voice that talks a lot about how Tom was brought back into Scientology after years of inactivity during his marriage to Nicole Kidman. To provide a bit of background (and I’m paraphrasing some findings from
Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion, by Janet Reitman), Nicole was never really crazy about the CO$ to begin with, and she really didn’t like David Miscavige at all. It certainly didn’t help that Tom went OT Level III (and as such, was allowed to read the infamous Xenu story) and went batshit with rage. Supposedly, Tom was really angry about the whole experience and thought the alien story was utter crap. He couldn’t believe that he’d been promised so much knowledge and had ended up with a silly tale about volcanoes and aliens instead. So he quit the cult for a few years, and Miscavige decided that he’d do anything to get him back. This is where the Village Voice story comes into play:

​Three former Church of Scientology officials tell the Voice that for years — at least between 1991 and 2005 — church leader David Miscavige kept a close watch on Tom Cruise with the use of a man named Michael Doven, who served as Cruise’s personal assistant.

For much of that time, 1991 to 2001, Cruise, one of Scientology’s most famous faces, was actually estranged from the church (a closely-held secret until just a few years ago). While Cruise kept his distance from Scientology during that period, Miscavige still received detailed, daily reports about the Cruise household through Doven, the former officials say.

Doven was reached on the telephone Wednesday, but he hung up when he learned that it was the Voice calling. An e-mail was subsequently sent to him with specific questions about the allegation that he spied on his employer, Cruise, on behalf of the church, but he did not respond.

Part of the reason for the surveillance, says former church official Claire Headley, was that Miscavige and the church were worried that Cruise would cut ties entirely with Scientology. “Doven told us what Tom was complaining about, about what areas in his life he was having trouble with. Then we could use that information to tailor our approach to him,” she says.

​Thursday morning, the Voice published a story about Doven, who no longer works as Cruise’s assistant but photographs other Scientology celebrities for magazines. Our story was prompted by a mailer sent out recently by the church, which included a lengthy testimonial by Doven about how he had become the first Scientologist to complete testing on a corrected set of L. Ron Hubbard materials which were published in 2007, the “Golden Age of Knowledge for Eternity.”

After that story appeared, Marty Rathbun, formerly Scientology’s second-highest ranking executive, made public his allegation that for many years Doven had spied on Cruise for Miscavige. Since Rathbun made that allegation public at his blog Thursday afternoon, we have been confirming his statements with other church executives who worked with Miscavige, Cruise, and Doven.

Rathbun went through a detailed history with us of Tom Cruise’s involvement in Scientology, and his own role in helping to bring Cruise back into the fold in 2001.

“Doven was there the entire time, reporting to Miscavige everything that Tom was doing,” Rathbun told me. When I asked Rathbun how he knew that, he answered in Scientology jargon: “How do I know that? Because I was on that line.”

“Doven was personally reporting to you what Tom was doing?” I asked him, for clarification.

“Absolutely,” Rathbun answered. “He’d be telling me what was happening with Nic [Nicole Kidman], what was happening in the household, what was happening between Tom and Steven Spielberg. He had been reporting to us from the early 1990s.” After 1996, Rathbun says, Doven was making those reports directly to him, and Rathbun was in turn giving the information directly to Miscavige.

In 1998 or 1999, Claire Headley says she too became part of those communications while she worked with Rathbun at the Religious Technology Center, one of Scientology’s entities at the church’s secretive desert base.

“I was a party to the conversations that Doven was supposed to be, you know, feeding us information and getting Tom back on lines,” she says. “I do remember that Doven’s reporting led up to retrieving Tom. And subsequently I had a lot of involvement with Marty when he was running Tom on OT IV and OT V.” (We’ll explain that jargon later in the story. If you’re new to the subject, you might want to read our primer, “What is Scientology?”)

I asked Headley what kind of information Doven was turning over. “What was happening with Nicole and the divorce. And I remember hearing about problems with Nicole’s parents — or the problems that Tom perceived, with them not wanting Nicole to continue with Scientology,” she says.

In 1990, Cruise had begun dating Kidman. But if Miscavige was hoping that Cruise was going to become a more involved Scientologist, instead the actor pulled away. Late in 1990, Cruise and Kidman were married. In 1991, Cruise all but separated from Scientology, but the church managed to keep it quiet.

“Nicole was really sour on Scientology and kept pressing Tom to stay away from Int Base,” Marty Rathbun tells me. Until 2004, Rathbun was perhaps the highest-ranking official in the church after Miscavige. (He wore the title of the RTC’s Inspector General-Ethics, but all that really mattered was that he answered to only one person — Miscavige.) “Nicole spotted Miscavige and didn’t like what she saw. Her big issue was that Tom was becoming like Miscavige. Nicole didn’t like the relationship that was developing between them,” Rathbun says.

[From Village Voice's Runnin' Scared blog]

LMAO. So Nicole didn’t like the “relationship” between Tom and David Miscavige, and she wasn’t gung ho about Scientology to begin with, so the CO$ declared her a suppressive person. Now Nicole can’t even see her own children, Isabella and Connor, with Tom — although I do have hope that Connor will eventually leave the cult.

Anyway, the Village Voice article goes on at great length and is well worth a read when you can set aside some time to fully digest it. Of particular interest is more discussion on how the CO$ targeted South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, which turned into quite the convoluted matter. Long story short — since Comedy Central is owned by Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, Miscavige dispatched Michael Doven to apply pressure on both Paramount and Viacom to shut up the South Park guys. Further, Miscavige attempted to use CAA to force the LA Times to actually stop associating Tom Cruise with Scientology. Seems odd, right? Well, this all occurred at the height of Tom’s 2005 crazy, but the LA Times reportedly stood firm. Miscavige’s demands turned an already huge mess into a collosal clusterf–k, and the “end result” was that Tom parted ways with Paramount in 2006. In other words, this was “yet another case of Miscavige creating enemies in his fervor to try and protect his image.”

So why is Miscavige still around when Scientology is clearly imploding under his leadership? Well, it will take awhile for the “mighty” to fall in this case because the CO$ still has tons of money and plenty of slave labor. However and thanks to the internet, recruits are way down, and it’s only a matter of time. Especally when fundraising emails are leaked in such an amusing manner. Now if only the IRS would again revoke the tax-free status of the CO$, this cult would fall much more quickly.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and Freedom Magazine

Tom Cruise’s BFF, cult leader David Miscavige

This story is somewhat complicated for non-Scientology people to understand, but I’ll try to explain it as I’ve come to understand it. A very high-up member of the Scientology cult, a woman whose photo and editorials were featured in their magazine every month for years, has written a mass e-mail questioning the “religion’s” direction under leader David Miscavige. The thing that makes this letter different is that unlike other prominent Scientologists, like the Oscar winning director/writer Paul Haggis, the author isn’t defecting from Scientology or urging other members to leave. Author Debbie Cook is using the basic tenets of their religion, as laid out by founder L. Hubbard, to emphasize that Miscavige is abusing his position and violating the church’s teachings by squeezing money out of parishioners and hoarding it. Cook is appealing to true believers not to leave but to question their leadership. This signifies a potential civil war inside this very criminal cult, between the people who are devoted followers and the people who are abusing their power.

A woman named Debbie Cook dropped something of an atom bomb on the membership of the Church of Scientology last night, and as of this minute — about noon on New Year’s Day — her Facebook page is still going a bit crazy as her fellow church members deal with the fallout.

Cook was once a very high ranking executive in Scientology’s Sea Org. She led the Flag Service Organization in Clearwater, Florida, which made her one of the most important executives at the spiritual headquarters of the worldwide organization. Several years ago, she left that position and the Sea Org, but she is still a member of the church in good standing.

That will probably change after the e-mail she sent out, reportedly to 12,000 members of her religion, which condemns church leader David Miscavige for turning Scientology into little more than a money-hungry fundraising machine.

Some things to keep in mind as you read her message. (New to Scientology watching? Here’s an introduction to the religion.)

– Debbie is aware that her fellow church members are not used to hearing criticism of church management, and would automatically suspect that such a message would be sent from someone outside the church, or from a disaffected member who had been declared a “suppressive person” (excommunicated). So she stresses repeatedly that she is still a member in good standing, is writing only for her fellow church members, and does not want her message to be seen outside the church (a very naive notion).

– She, like many other longtime church members who have been leaving Scientology, is fed up with the intense pressure under leader David Miscavige to raise money from people who are already giving every penny they can. As we saw in the recent blockbuster series in the St. Petersburg Times, “The Money Machine,” even very loyal longtime members are simply becoming exhausted from constant pressure to donate large sums.

– What really makes this document unique is the way that Debbie appeals to her fellow church members by going to the “Source” — L. Ron Hubbard’s own words — to show how “out-ethics” (outside of policy) Miscavige is with his emphasis on fundraising.

– We are left with a lot of questions after reading this clearly heartfelt appeal by a longtime Scientologist who is alarmed at what her church has turned into: what will become of Debbie Cook? Will she be declared a suppressive person for raising these questions, and will her many friends be told to disconnect from her? Will her e-mail generate an actual discussion among longtime church members about these problems and foster even more defections to Marty Rathbun’s blog and the independence movement? Or, will Miscavige finally begin to see the light and start making critical changes to save Scientology from problems that seem to be splitting it apart?

[From The Village Voice]

In the past, we would be very concerned about Cook’s well being at this point, considering all the ways that Scientologists have harassed, followed and intimidated defectors, often to the point of “suicide.” The story has received a ton of international press, which protects Cook from immediate reprisal. High ranking former member Mark Rathbun writes that Cook is not in imminent danger and that we can expect to see Scientologists and Miscavige pitifully try and spin this. You can read her full letter on Rathbun’s blog, and he has more information about how the cult is trying to discredit her.

Personally I would love to see Tom Cruise’s little buddy Miscavige implode and/or step down. We’ve heard so many truly scary stories about what a abusive, mean, vindictive despot Miscavige can be. Cruise is probably still a member in good standing behind the scenes, but he’s had to keep absolutely quiet about it following his nearly career-killing antics supporting the cult in 2005.

Thanks to a member of anonymous for the tip! These photos are of Cruise and Miscavige at a Sci event several years ago and at Cruise’s wedding to Katie Holmes

Man, I have to admit to thoroughly enjoying digging up the photos for this story because the memories of Tom Cruise’s 2005 public breakdown (particularly while he toured for War of the Worlds and MI3) really needed some refreshing. You see, Tom was rather well behaved during the entire Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol promotional tour. Basically, Tom was so tame in his behavior that we all focused instead upon his botoxy, nebulous, tweaked-up, plastic-surgery face. Well, that and his adorable little lifts, which by the way, really are much different Robert Downey Jr.’s lifts (RDJ proudly owns those things, and Cruise pretends they don’t exist at all). Yet Tom did very well during this tour to reign in the crazy. Someone very wise advised him to focus on talking about the stunts. There was no jumping up and down on couches, no mention of Scientology, no fingers pointed in journalist’s faces, no crazed expressions, no happy trails revealed at baseball games, no motorcyle rides down the red carpet, and no strange body language. In other words, there was none of this:

Tom also didn’t pull any sketchy red-carpet PDA on director Brad Bird like he did to poor Steven Spielberg:

In addition, Tom also significantly toned down the public perception of his relationship to Katie Holmes. Sure, he paid brief lip service how “amazing” she is, and he etched a love note to her on the Burj Khalifa, and then he papped himself for an entire weekend with Katie and Suri, but he also left Katie at home for all of the international premieres. When she did show up on the NYC red carpet, things were so restrained that Kaiser declared that Katie and Tom were “phoning it in”. That’s certainly a natural reaction while observing a zombie couple who used to act like this on the red carpet:

Essentially, Tom has been working very hard to reign in his wacky OT Level VIII, Scientology personality so that he can appeal more to the general public (a.k.a., “wogs”). Now he’s fully “refreshed” in more ways than just his face. A story in this week’s issue of In Touch confirms that Tom has enlisted the help of PR experts, who helped him cultivate a less “obnoxious” and more “sophisticated” vibe while promoting MI4:

As Tom Cruise strolled down the red carpet at the New York premiere of his latest blockbuster film, Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, he looked cool, calm and collected. “He spoke in a soft voice, and was gracious to reporters and fans,” an onlooker at the December 19 event tells In Touch. “Everyone was so impressed with how warm and polite he was.”

Tom’s demure behavior was shocking — considering he usually acts totally amped up at his premiere extravaganzas, often dipping his wife, Katie Holmes, and greeting fans over-enthusiastically. But this time, Tom acted like a grown man, and it was intentional.

Six years after jumping on Oprah’s couch like a lunatic — and seeing his popularity dwindle — he is finally heeding the advice of his handlers. “While promting Mission: Impossible, Tom was instructed to keep the focus on the film and not his personal life,” an insider explains of the star, adding that Tom’s wild antics after he began dating Katie were blamed for the failure of his flick War of the Worlds. “He really aliented his fans with his bizarre behavior back then. This time, he was given guidelines on what is and isn’t acceptable.”

He wants everyone to like him. Now, instead of over-the-top publicity stunts and passionate public makeouts with Katie, 33, on the press circuit, a much calmer Tom is sticking to the subject. “I think making movies is a dream come true,” the 49-year-old told In Touch at his new film’s premiere. “It’s something I’ve never taken for granted.”

And with his mature new attitude, it seems like the dream will continue to be a reality for Tom. As the insider sums up, “He’s well on his way to regaining his throne as the most popular star in the world!”

[From In Touch, print edition, January 9, 2012]

This story mostly gets it right except for the finer detail about when Tom’s box-office potential tanked as a result of his outlandish behavior. Neither War of the Worlds ($234,280,354 domestic) nor MI3 ($134,029,801) were significantly affected because these were action films based either upon a great literary work or an existing franchise that people still really wanted to see regardless of the Cruise. However, when Tom tried in 2007 for a political drama in Lions for Lambs, no one showed up. That movie made a mere $15 million on a $35 million budget, and even though Meryl Streep and Robert Redford played supporting roles, people just didn’t want to see Tom in a leading role at that point. Part of this failure could be attributed to subject matter, but even a political movie should be able to recoup its relatively small budget when it stars A-listers. Primarily, that movie tanked because Tom’s crazy face continued well into 2006 and further tainted the well.

Here’s more memories, this time of 2006 in Cruiseland:

Photos courtesy of Fame and WENN

Here are even more photos of Tom Cruise papping himself with his family to promote MI4. The man is just … well, he doesn’t stop. I realize that he’s got a product to sell and has much at stake with this movie, and Kaiser described Tom’s attitude well in terms of “hustle,” but Tom really needs to take a break soon. I’m actually startng to worry about the little fella. It’s simply not healthy to run this hard for so long.

Also, Tom should really think about disappearing for awhile after he finishes up this MI4 publicity blitz because the backlash is commencing in earnest and from more than just a gossip standpoint. Even Reuters has published an article (a really “amazing“ one) entitled “The Curse of Being Tom Cruise” that includes much of what we’ve already discussed here including a bit about those paid fans in Mumbai. Overall, it’s a pretty brutal take on Tom’s public persona and concludes that Tom’s fame is quickly approaching that of a reality star instead of an A-list movie actor.

Now Hollywood Reporter has jumped in with a piece dedicated solely to the topic of Tom’s morphing face, which Kaiser, CB, and myself have already covered at great length. The HR article even discusses the Mail’s piece about Tom’s makeup fetish (which I referenced yesterday) and goes into detail about Tom’s secret professional relationship with a famous Brazilian plastic surgeon:

Tom Cruise, 49, is looking eerily younger than ever. Which leads us to surmise that A. he’s getting some help or B. he’s got a scary portrait in his attic. The actor — who turns 50 on July 3, 2012, — has looked particularly fresh-faced as he promotes his new movie Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol

So what’s his secret? According to the Brazilian mag EPOCA, Cruise has had meetings with world famous Brazilian plastic surgeon Dr. Ivo Pitanguy. Cruise even invited the good doctor to the 2009 Rio premiere of Knight and Day. And on that same trip, Cruise, wife Katie Holmes and daughter Suri, were photographed having a lunch at Pitanguy’s private island in Brazil’s Bay of Kings.

British tabs are already reporting that Cruise has become more concerned with his skin, even using his wife’s creams. Since Dr. Pitanguy’s skin care line, Beauty By Clinica Ivo Pitanguy, is also available at U.S department stores such as Berdorf Goodman, Cruise could indeed be slathering on his friend’s pricey goop. The New York Times has already lauded Pitanguy’s new “It” Cream, the Restoring Formula in his PreVious skin care line. The cost: $300 for 1.7 ounces.

Pitanguy is credited with triggering Brazil’s obsession with plastic surgery. He’s allegedly worked on Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Persian Empress Farah Diba, French president Francois Mitterrand and Frank Sinatra. A jet-setting multi-lingual Renaissance man, Ivo is also friends with Carla Bruni, the First Lady of France, Michael Caine and the late Salvador Dalí and Audrey Hepburn, The Times also profiled the good doctor, whose scapel has been said to be “guided by heaven.”

Another aging celebrity we’re keeping a close eye on is Rolling Stone Mick Jagger. Our sources say he’s now using his girlfriend L’Wren Scott’s magical skin potions from Dr. David Colbert, including Colbert’s Intensify Facial Discs, Stimulating Serum, Nutrify and Protect Day Dream and Heal and Soothe Night Cream, available at Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and on his website.

If Dr. Colbert’s products can make a difference in Mick’s 68-year-old weathered face, we’re buying this stuff in bulk. And how many Frequent Flyer miles does it take to get to Brazil?

[From Hollywood Reporter]

A plastic surgeon who’s allegedly “guided by Heaven” doesn’t sound like he falls in line with the tenets of Scientology, right? Then again, the usual CO$ rules don’t necessarily apply to Tom. But yes, I totally buy that Katie and Suri were wined and dined while Tom was nipped and tucked.

Tom also appeared on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” to talk more about the MI4 stunts. Fallon’s praise was so effusive that I thought the poor guy was going to wet his pants in excitement, and when he called Tom a “manly man,” you could visibly see Tom’s feathers fluff right up. It was a lot like the final act of Black Swan. Anyway, Fallon totally beat Tom in a wreath-throwing contest too, and I bet it secretly killed Tom not to be the very best at something:

Meanwhile, here’s a photo of Katie stepping out alone on Tuesday evening (even robots need some breathing room) to check out the Broadway production of The Cherry Orchard, which sort of irks me because I adore Anton Chekov and even chose my daughter’s middle name based upon a character in that very play. Katie couldn’t possibly understand.

Later, Katie stepped out with Suri and Tom (photographed separately below) for yet another late night:

Suri, in an unusual gesture, seemed perfectly happy to interact with the paps:

Finally, here’s Tom walking by his lonesome behind Katie and Suri, which is strange because he usually likes to be front and center:

Photos courtesy of Fame

Tom Cruise isn’t quite finished pimping out his family for the sake of promoting Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, which I guess is sort of understandable since he doesn’t mave much else to talk about other than his insane stunt work in the movie. I mean, he’s finally figured out that no one wants to hear him talk about Scientology and the evils of psychiatry, so that’s something positive. Still, Tom’s been around the globe a few times in the past few weeks, and then he returned to New York City to get papped with the family all weekend while carting poor Suri around without a coat. By the time he and Katie actually walked the red carpet, they both looked exhausted as hell.

As a general rule, I can’t even imagine how exhausting it must be for Katie to deal with Tom on a consistent basis and even experience his suffocating “lovebombing” when he’s away for work too. Make no mistake that Tom is still thrilled to have Katie as his wife (whatever that actually means to them as a couple), and he’s still giving interviews to discuss her “amazing” qualities. He really needs to learn some new adjectives, right?

The parties just don’t stop for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes this holiday season. The couple celebrated their five-year anniversary last month and her 33rd birthday on Dec. 18.

“Every day I fall more in love with her,” Cruise, 49, told PEOPLE at the New York premiere of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol on Monday at the Ziegfeld Theatre. “It’s been quite an amazing five years because of her. She’s an incredible woman. She’s everything to me.”

To mark her birthday, the couple enjoyed a Big Apple tradition at the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring The Rockettes with daughter Suri, 5, and her grandparents, Kathleen and Martin Holmes.

The family then dined at Buddakan for a birthday meal on Sunday.

“We had a lot of fun. It was a great day,” Cruise says of the party, which included some romantic treats for his wife. “We had flowers and cake. All that stuff.”

[From People]

Yeah, Katie’s birthday must have been quite the event, what with the Sciento-clown in attendance. Shudder. Meanwhile, Tom hasn’t forgotten about his other girl either, for he’s also paying lipservice to Suri as well:

Suri Cruise isn’t a sartorial copycat.

The fashionable 5-year-old — who’s been known to rock faux fur jackets and kitten heels over the years — has an innate sense of style, according to her dad Tom Cruise.

“She was just born that way. I don’t know what to say,” a proud Cruise, 49, told Us Weekly at the Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol premiere in NYC Monday. “She really creates her own outfits.”

Adding that Suri “dresses herself,” Cruise said his wife Katie Holmes, 33, has helped curate their daughter’s love of clothes.

“Katie has her create things and sew and stuff like that. It’s kind of amazing,” Cruise said. “It’s beautiful. It’s really beautiful.”

Holmes — who recently admitted to coordinating outfits with her celeb BFF Victoria Beckham — also helps her action star hubby get dressed for red carpet events.

“Whatever my wife wants me to wear, I wear,” Cruise laughed. “It’s simple. She has amazing taste.”

[From Us Magazine]

Okay, that last part must have been a lie because, seriously, are we supposed to believe that Tom only wears lifts because “amazing” Katie dictates that he must do so? I think she sort of enjoys towering over him sometimes. Rather, it’s Tom who can’t handle the truth.

In addition to Tom’s vomit-inducing words about his lovely and incredible wife, the Cruise also stopped by “The Late Show with David Letterman” on Monday evening to promote MI4, and he barely gets a word in about his wife and daughter because Dave (mercifully) keeps quizzing him about the movie stunts. However, Tom does make quick mention of Katie staying home from the international MI4 tour because the schedule was jam-packed, not because she was lounging somewhere on a recharging dock as I previously guessed. My bad.

On a slightly amusing note, the Daily Mail has some photos of a very heavily made-up Tom outside the Ed Sullivan show after chatting with Letterman. While I’m aware that guests on the show wear make-up for the cameras, the amount of blusher and lipstick on Tom is ridiculous, and someone should’ve made him wash that stuff off before heading onto the street. Fortunately, you can’t really see it while he’s chatting to Dave onscreen though. Here’s a clip of the show, which is largely uneventful because Tom’s apparently taken a few PR lessons on how to hide the crazy. He does slip once though when Letterman says the word “ass” — Tom begins laughing hysterically and then repeats the word. What a freak.

Now as a special bonus, here’s ore of Tom’s freaky plastic-surgery face from the MI4 NYC premiere. You know you love it.

Photos courtesy of Fame and WENN