According to a former high-ranking Scientology officer, the church hired a private investigator to spy on the 'Being the Ricardos' star over fear that she had a great influence on the 'Top Gun' actor.
- Sep 28, 2022
AceShowbiz - For years, there have been rumors that Scientology isn't fond of some of Tom Cruise's famous exes, Nicole Kidman in particular. According to a former high-ranking Scientology officer, the church once wiretapped the actress in an attempt to alienate her from the actor.
In his new book titled "A Billion Years: My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology", Mike Rinder writes that Tom started to pull away from Scientology while filming Stanley Kubrick film "Eyes Wide Shut" with Nicole. The "Mission: Impossible" star allegedly began to ignore Scientology head David Miscavige's calls while he was filming the movie in London in 1997.
This allegedly prompted David to send Marty Rathbun, a top church exec, to the U.K. to audit Tom, a process through which the subject is walked through events in their life to relieve negativity and reach a level of "clear." According to Mike, Tom "was gradually drawn back into the world of Scientology," but this "created a distance between [Tom] and Nicole."
Nicole had been brought to the church by Tom years before, but "never expressed particular eagerness for her Scientology courses or auditing," Mike writes. With the church apparently feeling threatened by Nicole's influence over the actor, Marty allegedly "worked with [Hollywood lawyer] Bert Fields to hire infamous PI Anthony Pellicano to spy on Nicole and tap her phone."
It's unclear if the church obtained something that contributed to the end of Tom and Nicole's relationship, but they eventually split in 2001. "When Tom and Nicole divorced, Miscavige was happy that the 'negative influence' of Nicole was no longer dragging Tom away," so Mike claims. "Cruise thereafter became more fervent in his vocal public support of scientology and Miscavige."
The Church of Scientology, however, denies Mike's claims. "The Church never ordered or participated in any illegal wiretapping," a church spokesperson tells Page Six. "Mike Rinder is an inveterate liar who seeks to profit from his dishonesty. He supports himself by orchestrating the harassment of his former Church and its leader through false police reports, incendiary propaganda and fraudulent media stories."
Also in the book, Mike recounts the time he allegedly witnessed John Travolta kissing a male masseur in a hotel suite. While the church claims not to be anti-gay, "yet the threat of a story describing a Scientologist as gay would cause panic internally because for a Scientologist, not being 'cured' of homosexuality would indicate, that the tech doesn't work," Mike says.
