Leah Remini has had a lot going on in her personal life the last few years. Her daughter went off to college, Leah herself enrolled at NYU for a liberal arts associate’s program, she sued the Church of Scientology for harassment and defamation, and she and her husband divorced after 21 years of marriage. That’s a lot! So it’s no surprise that she’s been pretty quiet lately. But she’s speaking up now, and the timing couldn’t be better. Just as Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is breaking box office records, Leah is here to remind us that the stunt queen is A) still a Scientologist, and B) hugely benefiting from the “church” doing extensive dirty work on his behalf, to keep his reputation (and ego) squeaky clean. Well played, Leah. I’d call that mission accomplished. Furthermore, Leah tells Us Weekly that she doubts Tom Cruise could function “in the real world” without COS covering his ass.
But even after more than a decade of speaking out, the actress says the Church still holds a powerful grip on some of Hollywood’s biggest names, many of whom continue to stay silent or benefit from the institution’s vast resources. At the top of that list, she says, is Tom Cruise, who remains the Church’s most prominent ambassador — and, according to Remini, its most protected. “Can you imagine Tom being in a normal world? Like, without Scientology doing his dirty work for him? No,” she tells Us Weekly of the Mission: Impossible star, who maintains a close friendship with Church leader David Miscavige.
Remini claims Cruise has long relied on Scientology to protect his public image, with the organization going as far as to orchestrate his breakup with former girlfriend Nazanin Boniadi in the mid-2000s and suppress damaging media coverage. “He’s given enormous power,” she tells Us. “This man who has a multi-million-dollar organization using all its resources to stop a book being written about him.”
According to Remini, when her Aftermath cohost Mike Rinder, a former senior member of the Church, left in 2007, he took thousands of documents with him. Among those, she alleges, there were “hundreds” demonstrating how Cruise’s team worked to shut down news stories — even people planning to fly skywriting over a movie premiere. “They used all kinds of resources because they couldn’t risk Tom’s precious eyes seeing that,” she adds.
…In recent years, both Cruise and [John] Travolta have been noticeably quieter about their beliefs, but Remini doesn’t think that signals a change of heart. “They’re being exposed for what they truly believe in,” she says. “And they realized, ‘We better shut up, or we’re not going to have careers.’ But that doesn’t mean they aren’t still in full agreement with what the Church does.”
Asked if she believes any of these celebrity members will ever walk away, Remini doesn’t sound hopeful. “I used to hope a lot of these people would leave,” she admits. “But I kind of feel like they need Scientology. I don’t know if they’d make it in the real world.”
Again, thank you Leah for these timely comments. I’m a bitch who holds a grudge, so whenever I see Tom Cruise pop up I can’t get past his Scientology association, let alone his status at the top of that cult. But he is savvy, and Cruise conducts himself in a way that makes it easy for people to turn a blind eye to COS. LaineyGossip had a nuanced take a couple weeks ago, noting how Cruise will show up to press junkets early and make time to speak with everyone in the line. “That’s what makes talking about Tom Cruise complicated for some members of the media. He’s a weirdo, no doubt. But if a weirdo has shown you a kindness, it’s hard to forget.” Bingo. And there’s plenty more acts of generosity Cruise does, like mentoring up-and-comers, or his infamous Christmas coconut cake list. And hey, these thoughtful traits may genuinely be part of his personality. But it’s also a pretty slick tactic for shielding himself from Scientology heat. And like Leah said, I don’t think Cruise is ever leaving COS at this point.
Switching topics, can someone please explain to me the “haircut” Cruise has sported the last several years? It isn’t his worst offense, but still…
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