An explosive new documentary is pulling back the curtain on the controversial Church of Scientology’s grip on some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, RadarOnline.com reports.
Mark (Marty) Rathbun — former inspector general of the church — speaks out in the new documentary that has aired in Britain called Scientologists at War. Rathbun outlines how the church’s leader, David Miscavige, had him work on a top-secret project in the 1990s to help Tom Cruise.
Cruise star has been outspoken in defending the religion and has been actively involved in the church. Rathbun says it was he who lured Cruise’s Vanilla Sky co-star, and ex-girlfriend, Penelope Cruz into their sphere.
Scientology even audited the Spanish star during the duo’s three-year relationship, Rathbun says. An “audit” is a Scientology term for a deep personal interview.
“Cruise started making some noises about getting some help (from the Church of Scientology, and) Miscavige had me drop everything,” Rathbun told the Channel 4 exposé, which provides a rare look behind Scientology’s activities.
Rathbun says Cruise “became number one priority” and he soon found himself the emotional crutch to the star of Jerry Maguire, Top Gun and other hits.
“I helped him on his divorce from Nicole (Kidman) and then I was auditing him and I was helping him get Penelope auditing,” Rathbun said. “I was helping him in all aspects of his life.”
Scientologists say auditing clears negativity to reach a plateau of spiritual awareness and access untapped potential. Miscavige was Cruise’s best man at his wedding to Katie Holmes.
“(But) once Miscavige was able to hobnob with Cruise again, he was done with me,” Rathbun said. “(Miscavige) actually tried to denigrate me a little bit in Tom’s eyes. I was (Cruise’s) biggest opinion leader, having salvaged his marriage, his kids, his family life — even his career. It was crazy. Miscavige had to try and undermine me in front of Cruise.”
In a 2012 Vanity Fair story, writer Maureen Orth said Cruise and Cruz split because the Oscar-winning actress would not give up her Buddhist beliefs and adapt to the Church of Scientology.
Miscavige called Cruz a “dilettante.”
The Scientologists have fired back and called Rathbun “an anti-Scientologist, desperate and delusional.”
Amy Scobee, a former church executive — who once ran the Celebrity Centre sector — has said she and other influential staffers were assembled to establish Cruise’s $35 million home with Kidman and their children, Isabella and Connor, in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
“It was a confidential project that I was not allowed to discuss with any other staff member … it was being run directly by Miscavige and his wife,” said Scobee, who left the church in 2005.
“To that effect, it was a privilege: an honour to set him and Nicole up,” Scobee said. “But the clear goal was to ensure that he was set up with Scientologists only around him.
“Now that I am out of the church, I have discovered that it is against the law, because the church was using members to give him special favours. Members working for him, directly. Putting together his sound theatre, cooking, various work.”
Scobee said Cruise turned over some aspects of his life to the church — including, Rathbun revealed, his private confessions.
“I audited a number of intensives of confessionals on Tom Cruise from July through November 2001,” Rathbun says in the documentary.
“By order of Miscavige, many of those sessions were secretly recorded by a well-concealed video camera and voice recorder system built into the VIP auditing room at Celebrity Center International.”