Tom Cruise is a Hollywood icon and easily one of the world's highest-paid actors.
That being said, the star has landed in hot waters and amassed numerous skeletons in his
closet.
Here are the disturbing things we ignore about Tom Cruise's life today.
Over the past decade, the Church of Scientology has been accused, by numerous ex-members,
of gross misconduct.
And, Tom Cruise is not free from blame.
In fact, former Inspector General Mark Rathbun claims he has secret emails proving that a,
quote, "slave labor force" built a luxury bus, as a gift, for Cruise.
Then, in 2013, 15 ex-Scientologists signed affidavits in which they claimed that Cruise
paid members of the church $1 an hour to carry out a whole slew of jobs for him.
John Brousseau is a former member of the Sea Organization which makes up the most devout
inner-circle of Scientologies' members.
He claims that Scientology leader David Miscavige ordered him to, quote, "do specific projects
relating to Tom Cruise" including carry out "a complete renovation of his home in Beverly
Hills."
Brousseau also claims,
"[He was ordered to] oversee the construction of a large custom motorhome for Mr. Cruise
over a five-month period [and to] assist in the customization and construction of a special
limousine for Tom Cruise."
Meanwhile, former high-ranking Scientologist Amy Scobee said she had to, quote, "locate
Scientologists for Tom Cruise's household to cover the positions of nanny, cook, and
maid."
It was also alleged that anyone who didn't follow orders was met with inhumane punishments,
such as being locked in a bamboo cage.
Whistleblower, Leah Remini left the church in 2013 and published her book, Troublemaker:
Surviving Hollywood and Scientology.
Since then, she hasn't stopped sharing horror stories, including ones about the church's
most famous member: Tom Cruise.
And, in November 2018, she told The Daily Beast that,
"Scientologists are told that Tom Cruise is saving the world single-handedly, so he is
considered a deity within Scientology."
The actress went on to claim that Cruise is, quote, "very aware of the abuses that go on
in Scientology."
Remini also told the outlet that there was an instance when the actor personally punished
a high-ranking member on Miscavige's orders.
The Church of Scientology quickly shut down the allegations, claiming,
"The interview is a PR stunt to promote [Remini's] fake reality TV show [and she] has gone out
of her way to manufacture hate and instigate harm toward innocent people."
A number of ex-members claim that Scientology is at the root of Cruise's high profile divorces
from Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes.
Rathbun alleged in the 2015 documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
that his job was to break up Nicole and Tom.
"I was to facilitate the breakup with Nicole Kidman."
Leah Remini corroborated those claims, claiming that,
"[The Celebrity Centre's Senior Vice President] used confidential Scientology counseling sessions
to bring a wedge between Tom and his wife Nicole because Nicole didn't want to do Scientology
anymore."
She added that David Miscavige used Rathbun to, quote, "[get] rid of Nicole to get Tom
closer to Scientology."
The couple eventually split in 2001, and when the divorce was finalized, Kidman went viral
for leaving her lawyer's office in utter bliss.
In 2006, Cruise married Katie Holmes with Miscavige acting as his best man.
But then, in 2012, the actress filed for divorce and sought sole custody of their daughter,
Suri.
And, it appears that Scientology pushed Holmes away.
When Cruise was asked during a deposition if Holmes had filed for divorce to, quote,
"protect" Suri from Scientology, he conceded,
"That was one of the assertions, yes."
Vanity Fair reported in 2012, that Shelly Miscavige, wife of Scientology leader David
Miscavige, was allegedly tasked with finding the ideal girlfriend for their star member.
It was 2004 when a reported audition process took place during which actresses in the Church
were called into what they believed to be an audition for a training film.
They were reportedly asked questions like, "What do you think of Tom Cruise?"
In October 2004, Homeland actress Nazanin Boniadi was chosen as a frontrunner.
Reportedly, Boniadi went through daily audits for a month and was forced to disclose everything
about herself, including, quote, "every detail of her sex life."
Boniadi was eventually chosen to go on a date with Cruise in November 2004, but not before
allegedly being told to remove her braces, darken her hair, and break up with her boyfriend.
But, the romance fell apart in January 2005.
Nazanin did move in with Cruise, but insiders claim he would report his girlfriend to Scientology
staff when he was displeased with her actions.
Eventually he got someone to break up with her, explaining that Cruise, quote, "wants
someone with her own power — like Nicole."
While Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were married, they adopted two children — Isabella and
Connor.
When they split, Cruise did his best to convince them to cut their mother out of their lives.
Former Scientologist Sam Domingo made the shocking allegation in 2019, telling R Online,
"Tom made the decision to disconnect from Nicole and have his children disconnect."
Domingo claimed that Isabella and Connor, quote, "weren't given a choice about [Scientology]
school or about disconnecting from their mother."
She added that Cruise, quote, "brainwashed" them and that:
"In their eyes, Nicole is what Scientologists call a 'meat body.'
She's not really their mother — she's just a bad person [and] those kids have grown up
without choices.
They're being used as leverage for the church and it's not right."
Meanwhile, former Scientologist Katrina Reyes claimed in 2018 that Connor was being groomed
into the, quote, "perfect Scientologist".
She added,
"They'll have him on course and doing some auditing, he can't go out and party and drink,
and he'll be on vitamins and juices."
As for Isabella, The Underground Bunker uncovered in 2019 that she starred in a promotional
video encouraging members to intern as auditors at the church's London branch.
In it, she stated:
"I became that annoying girl in the [organisation] who would just talk endlessly about how incredible
training is and how phenomenal the internship is.
Thank you to my Dad for everything."
In 2005, actress Brooke Shields used her memoir, Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum
Depression, to get real about her struggle with mental health.
She was honest about using therapy and antidepressants to cope, and that seemed to bother Tom Cruise.
The actor told Access Hollywood that Shields' glowing reviews of antidepressants were, quote,
"irresponsible."
He claimed,
"When someone says [medication] has helped them, it is to cope, it didn't cure anything.
There is no science.
There is nothing that can cure them whatsoever."
He then added a back-handed compliment saying,
"I care about Brooke Shields because I think she is an incredibly talented woman, [but]
look at where her career has gone."
Cruise also spoke out against Shields on Today stating his beliefs on psychiatry.
"psychiatry is a pseudoscience"
He added that, quote, "there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance in the body" and that
vitamins and exercise are the cure.
Shields fired back in The New York Times, writing, quote, "comments like those made
by Tom Cruise are a disservice to mothers everywhere."
She added,
"If any good can come of Mr. Cruise's rant, let's hope that it gives much-needed attention
to a serious disease."
Shields also told People that,
"Tom should stick to saving the world from aliens and let women who are experiencing
postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them."
In 2012, Cruise filed a $50 million lawsuit against Bauer Media over a claim that he had
abandoned his youngest daughter, Suri.
However, during a 2013 deposition, he was forced to admit that he didn't see his daughter
for over 100 days in 2012 due to work.
In 2016, In Touch reported that the number had grown to over 1,000 days.
A source told the magazine,
"[Cruise] uses his film commitments as an excuse, but the truth is that doesn't hold
much weight with Suri anymore."
The source went on to say that due to Scientology's, quote, "disconnection" policy,
"He's disconnected from Katie, and then de facto from Suri, because of her connection
to Katie.
He hasn't seen her since she was 7."
Meanwhile, in 2020, Leah Remini told the New York Post that,
"Scientology considers Katie a suppressive person, which is an enemy, and therefore Tom
believes, like all Scientologists, that he can't be connected to Suri."
However, in 2019, In Touch reported that Cruise was reportedly ready to build a relationship
with Suri.
During his $50 million lawsuit against Bauer Media, the actor apparently told a court that
shooting on location is just as grueling as serving a tour of duty.
The opposing lawyer is cited as telling Cruise,
"Your counsel has publicly equated your absence from Suri for these extended periods of time
as being analogous to someone fighting in Afghanistan"
The actor reportedly said in response:
"I didn't hear the Afghanistan, but that's what it feels like, and certainly in this
last movie, it was brutal.
It was brutal."
The story immediately began making headlines.
And, Cruise's lawyer, Bert Fields, tried to set things right, saying,
"The assertions that Tom Cruise likened making a movie to being at war in Afghanistan is
a gross distortion of the record.
What Tom said, laughingly, was that sometimes, 'That's what it feels like.'"
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