Tom Cruise’s former auditor, high ranking former Scientologist Marty Rathbun, has come forward with claims that Scientology head David Miscavige not only didn’t hold Cruise’s confessions sacred, he regularly taped them and read out transcripts of the star’s auditing sessions at parties. Rathbun has previously said that Miscavige assigned him in 2001 “to coordinate Tom’s divorce from Nicole and to serve as his auditor,” something that Cruise’s lawyer confirmed with a harshly worded letter warning Rathbun not to disclose any personal information that Cruise revealed in his auditing sessions. (Auditing is a Scientology process of eliciting secrets from members. It serves the dual purpose of indoctrinating them into the cult and collecting personal information to use against them.) Rathbun has promised to hold Cruise’s confessions sacred, but Cruise’s buddy Miscavige hasn’t done the same. According to Rathbun, Miscavige would regularly get drunk at parties and reveal Cruise’s secrets. What’s more is that all of Cruise’s auditing sessions were videotaped by Miscavige’s orders:

I audited a number of intensives of confessionals on Tom Cruise from July through November 2001. 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. I was r-factored that it was for the purpose of having the CS check up on the quality of my delivery. All I knew at that time was that I forwarded the videos to my CS at Int (RTC). I was also required by Miscavige to write reports on the content of every session I delivered during that period and send them directly to Miscavige. I was told by him that he needed to know because recovering Tom to Scientology was the most important mission possible. I never received a single suggestion from Miscavige during the recovery process. He quite apparently wanted to keep his distance until the messy divorce was over and there was no chance of Scientology becoming an issue.

The only C/S comments I received during that period, besides “VWD”, and during the subsequent 2 1/2 months of full time auditing I delivered in 2002, were out-tech suggestions to re-check things that were confirmed as FLAT by me. They were forwarded from COB Asst Shelly (who had virtually no tech training); all of which I refused to carry out in order to protect the pre-OT. Finally, I unilaterally decided to stop recording sessions in Feb 2002 – despite flak from Shelly for ceasing – on the basis that it was simply unethical to record him for no apparent purpose (the video was certainly of no importance for auditor correction purposes) and without his knowledge.

Well, my suspicions about DM’s real purposes for recording Tom’s confessions have been confirmed as warranted. I have recently learned from a very reliable witness that DM regularly held court with others in his personal lounge in the roadside Villas at the Int base, and while sipping scotch whiskey at the end of the night, Miscavige would read Tom’s overts and withholds from my reports to others, joking and laughing about the content of Tom’s confessions. My witness is unimpeachable in my eyes as his account contains too many accurate details from someone who had zero reason (or ability) for being anywhere near Tom’s folders, videos and reports direct to DM. I also know he was a regular, preferred guest at DM’s scotch night caps during that period.

[From Mark Rathbun's blog via Gawker]

Not all of that makes sense to non-Scientologists, but I guess Rathbun is saying that there was no reason to record Tom and that it served no purpose for what he was doing. He also was able to verify that Miscavige did reveal the content of Tom’s confessions by the fact that the stories contained details that only people who had seen or read the actual auditing sessions would know.

Of course I’m curious to hear what Cruise confessed to, but more than that I’d love to know how Miscavige is going to explain this to Cruise. Is he going to deny everything and blame it on some kind of anti-Scientology conspiracy? Will Tom buy that excuse or is he starting to get wise to what a criminal organization Scientology is?

We just heard details from ex Scientologist Amy Scobee’s new book about how Miscavige regularly had Tom’s all-Scientology staff spy on the star and his then-wife, Nicole Kidman. It sounds like Miscavige was collecting damning information to use against Tom in the event that he ever wanted to leave the cult. Maybe by using Tom’s personal stories for his own amusement Miscavige has so overstepped his bounds that Tom won’t be intimidated into keeping silent and supportive. This whole sordid plot reminds me of Cruise’s film The Firm. If only he’d get wise and start to fight back like one of the characters he plays.

Star Magazine is running a new cover story: “Katie’s Tortured Life” with the subheading “Tom’s ex-assistant tells all.” The article inside is an interview with ex higher up Scientologist Amy Scobee, who wrote a recent book exposing the inner workings of the cult called Scientology: Abuse at the Top. Both Star and The National Enquirer ran cover stories last week based on details from Scobee’s book. Whether Scobee actually worked as an “assistant” to Tom is up to question. She did do some work for him, but all Star offers to back up their “assistant” claim on the cover is that she “worked for 20 years in the elite levels of Scientology alongside Tom.” As for Katie’s “tortured life,” it all sounds like conjecture as to what Katie goes through based on known Scientology rituals. I would bet that Katie gets a pass now that she’s been Tom’s wife, and in Scientology, for two years. Some of our anon readers can possibly school me on whether that assumption is true.

Probably the most interesting claim Scobee makes, and one she told Star last week, is that Tom has a lot of Scientologists working in his household that regularly spy on him and report back to evil Scientology head David Miscavige. Nothing in the Holmes-Cruise household goes unnoticed, but whether that makes it back to the tabloids or not or stays within Scientology remains to be seen. Scobee also says that Suri can do basically whatever she pleases, because Scientologists see kids as old souls in little bodies who should be given free reign. We’ve heard this before, but it’s still interesting to get this take on it:

“Tom is surrounded by Scientologists,” Scobee tells Star, and they run every aspect of his life with Katie. From the maids and nannies that Scobee claims she hired from within the church to the financial advisers handling their investments, their staff are given the OK by church leaders. “And everyone reports back on everything that they see.”

More than ever, Katie is now brutally aware of how Tom keeps a close eye on her every move. “She realizes how he found out about her smoking, her eating habits and her flirting with costars,” a source says.

“She’s so mad at herself because she’s now cut off from many of her old friends and instead is mostly surrounded by Scientologists. And they’re just spying on her.”

Everyone in Katie’s life is there to make sure she adheres to Tom’s plan, says a source. “Katie’s day-to-day routine is heavily influenced by Scientology. If she deviates, someone tells Tom and she gets scolded.”

Each day starts with vitamins and barley water on an empty stomach. “The vitamins are part of a purification rundown to help cleanse Katie of any toxins around her,” Scobee explains.

She is then required to do two and a half hours of “auditing” (spiritual counseling) exercises while getting ready. “It’s really strict that you audit every single day,” Scobee says. “There are scheduled that you’ll have to adhere to, and you sign that you’ll do them. If you can’t during the week, you have to go full time on the weekend.”

Katie’s daily sessions are at a set time. “She’s measured on an e-meter to see what time of day is best, and that’s when they’ll always do it,” Scobee says. “She even has to brush her hair, brush her teeth, and get dressed in a specific order that’s supposed to make her energy better for the day,” says a source adds. [sic]

For Suri, however, the rule is that there are none! “She basically runs the house,” the source explains. “No one is permitted to wake her, not even Katie.” She picks out her own clothes and makeup and decides what to eat and when.

If someone should challenge her, “She screams, throws things, breaks things,” says the source. “Her tantrums are legendary.” But as a Scientologist, “Tom believes she is expressing her emotions and must be allowed to continue until she’s done. And if anyone stands up to her, they’re in deep trouble.”

“That’s an important Scientology belief,” Scobee says. “They think Suri is an old soul in a little body, so the rules go out the window.”

Katie wants to discipline Suri more, by taking away her bottle, for example, but Tom has forbidden it, says the source. She also wants Suri to attend Gymboree classes, but he refuses.

“Tom is a spokesperson for the Scientology education program, Applied Scholastics International, so he would ever ever let Suri be exposed to another form of education,” Scobee says.

[From Star Magazine, print edition, May 10, 2010]

I’m always kind of skeptical of over-the-top tabloid reports, and think that the truth lies somewhere in between. Is Katie beat down by hours of Scientology training daily? She probably was when she first hooked up with Tom, in order to prove her devotion to the cult and to Tom. As we saw from her starry-eyed adjective-filled interviews at the time, she was more than up to the task. I doubt she does hours of purif a day now, though. Is Suri a little hellion on wheels who rules the household with an iron bottle? Maybe, but I know my kid thew some massive tantrums in his day that brought us to our knees too. Sometimes kids are strong willed and you can tell that Suri definitely has that kind of personality.

While I might be willing to give the wacky Holmes-Cruises the benefit of the doubt, I shouldn’t be so generous to their cult. All you have to do is read these series of interviews in the St. Petersburg Times, or see Anderson Cooper’s recent investigation to realize that when it comes to this dangerous and criminal organization, sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.

Katie is shown out alone in LA on 4/23. She’s also shown with Suri in NY on 4/11/10. Credit: Fame Pictures

The Enquirer is running a typically misleading cover story this week titled “Katie discovers Tom’s Secret Life: The Gay Lies Exposed.” Inside, the story covers a new book by a high up Scientology defector that’s interesting not for the vague allegations about Tom Cruise but for the way it exposes and confirms the very criminal way the cult does business.

I’ve said this before and I should mention it at the start of this article - as far as I am aware, there are no provable allegations that Tom Cruise has ever had a same sex encounter. These rumors have been around for years, and I’ve done some research into them. I believe that the rumors started with convicted felon and notorious double-dealing private investigator, Anthony Pellicano. (Read this article and the linked articles there for background.) Pellicano regularly spread gossip about celebrities, only to go back to the celebrities and solicit their business in order to clear up the rumors. This is just my take, and maybe we’ll never know, but “Tom’s shocking confession about male lovers and drug use” isn’t even alleged in the book that the Enquirer reports on. Here’s their report, which is about a book by ex Scientologist Amy Scobee called Scientology: Abuse at the Top. Despite the cover, the Enquirer story is actually sympathetic toward Tom and discounts the book. (Some background on how Tom Cruise’s lawyer has responded, along with more details of the allegations in the book are here.)

Tom Cruise confessed to his wife Katie Holmes his secret anguish over incredible claims of gay love affairs and outrageous allegations he used drugs, sources tell The Enquirer.

The Hollywood icon bared his soul in a bid to set the record straight about his private life, insiders say, but now the nightmare rumors have come back to haunt him in a nasty jab on an animated TV show and a new book about his religion Scientology.

During his emotional heart-to-heart with Katie, the 47-year-old “Top Gun” star blasted the gay lies and false claims of drug use that have tainted his straight-arrow image for decades.

“Tom recently sat Katie down and made it absolutely clear to her that there’s no truth to either the gay stories about him or the rumors in the new book that he’s used drugs,” an insider divlged.

“He got really emotional and told Katie, ‘It’s all lies!’ I think she was shocked at the rumors that Tom has had to deal with over the years…”

Now Tom is gearing up for a legal fight against bogus claims about drug use made in a bombshell new book written by a former high ranking member of Scientology…

[Author] Amy Scobee claims that Cruise was “gung ho” to join the church’s elite “Sea Org” group, but didn’t qualify dur to his “drug history.”

Scobee offers no further proof of Cruise’s “drug history,” and was hit with a letter from the actor’s high-powered attorney Bertram Fields that blasted her claim as “demonstrably false and defamatory.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, May 3, 2010]

The “animated TV show” referenced in the text above is of course South Park. They had a 200th anniversary special on April 14 that had Cruise working at a fudge factory, uh “packing” and of course there’s the Trapped In The Closet episode from 2005.

Star Magazine actually has a better account of the book, and includes some dirt about how Scientology employees of celebrities would regularly gossip about their famous employers. People who “audited” celebrities also regularly shared information about the potentially embarrassing and damaging secrets the stars shared. (Auditing is the Scientology practice of eliciting confessions, a tactic used by many cults in an effort to control members.)

Tom’s alleged drug use
In the book, [Scobee] claims one high-ranking official, church leader David Miscavige’s wife, Shelly, even told her about Tom’s alleged history of drug use Tom, now 47, was barred from joining the Sea Organization, an elite group within Scientology, she said.

“I’m not going to repeat was Shelly told me, because then I’d be just as bad as them,” Amy [Scobee] says, “But I can say that smoking pot or doing cocaine wouldn’t be enough to disqualify you from the Sea Org. And medicines wouldn’t either,” she claims.

Another favorite topic of conversation among church officials was the sex lives of their celebrity members, Amy says. At one point, “a well-known spokesman for the Church of Scientology” was found to have a gay sex tape.

Several church members knew, according to Amy. “That was crisis time,” she explains. “Scientology looks at homosexuality as a disease that needs to be handled, and everyone was saying that we had to do something about that man.

“I don’t have any firsthand information that Tom has ever been gay…”

Staff spied on Tom and Nicole Kidman for Scientology leader David Miscavige
From the maid to the babysitter, nearly every single person who entered the home Tom shared with Nicole came from the Church’s ranks, she notes. And while he was allegedly aware - and even had final say on who would fill the positions - he had no idea that all of them were spying on him.

“Of course, they were definitely reporting back to David,” Amy reveals. He knew everything that was going on in the house. He kept tabs on everything that Tom and Nicole were doing.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, May 3, 2010]

I bet that past use of psychiatric medication would disqualify you from Sea Org, which would perhaps explain Tom’s crusade against antidepressant drugs - it was personal. There’s nothing damning about using antidepressants, except if you’re a Scientologist.

There have been allegations in the past by former high ranking Scientology officials that David Miscavige personally arranged Tom’s divorce from Nicole Kidman. Tom Cruise’s former auditor, Mark Rathbun, wrote that “in 2001 through 2003 Miscavige personally assigned me as Inspector General RTC – the second highest ecclessiastical position in the religion – to coordinate Tom’s divorce from Nicole and to serve as his auditor.” There’s plenty of dirt about Cruise and the church of Scientology, and it’s much worse than some tame allegations that he had same sex encounters.

I watched about 10 minutes of Kirstie Alley’s new reality show, Big cult apologist or Big on denial or whatever the hell it’s called, before I switched it off. In that time, I saw a lot of manufactured drama and bullsh*t. The thing that really turned me off was Alley’s sour personality, but the first scene, in which she complained bitterly about the paparazzi while exiting Katsuya - a paparazzi hotspot restaurant in which celebrities expect to be photographed - was too much. There were so many photographers there that it’s clear they were called ahead of time. I get that she needed a scene to illustrate her point that she hates the paparazzi, but that was so set up it wasn’t funny. I hope Alley’s show and her new laughable L.Ron-approved “diet supplements” tank.

Alley, who lashed out at the Today show for daring to question the connections between her subscription diet supplements and her criminal cult, Scientology, is now personally going after the photographers who follow her. She’s hired a private investigator and hopes to get any illegals deported, as well as gain ammunition to discourage them. This is predictable and is part of Scientology’s philosophy of “fair game” or attacking your enemies by any means necessary:

STAR GAZING: Kirstie Alley has long had a love/hate relationship with the paparazzi. Now there are reports the actress has hired a private eye to investigate the paps she hates. That includes delving into immigration records, hoping to uncover illegals — many of the L.A.-based paparazzi are of Mexican or Central American descent — and have them deported.

[From The Chicago Sun Times]

It’s hard to feel sorry for paparazzi at all, but in this case I do. I’m not for illegal immigration, but some of these people have families and children and it’s not as simple as getting them deported. I’ve also lived in another country where I don’t speak the language and have a lot of empathy for people who move to a new place hoping for a better life. Until you’ve experienced it for a few years you really have no idea. It’s not like being on vacation or even spending a year studying abroad. Anyway I’m not saying that illegal immigrants should be able to stay here, especially paparazzi, just that Alley is a nasty bitch with a huge chip on her shoulder. Who is she to turn people in? There are also many cases where people can get deported on technicalities. While I love the U.S. I have to say that the department of Homeland Security is not the fairest organization, based on my husband’s experiences with them.

Kirstie Alley is shown on 3/17/10 with her kids. Credit: Girlie/Fame Pictures

Did you guys know that Jason Lee is a Scientologist? I hate that about him, even though I love him as an actor. Well, anyway, he rolls with Xenu, and now Jason’s ex-wife Carmen Llywellyn is “telling all” about Jason and the Church of Scientology. Now, the Enquirer claims that Carmen is still a “member” of CoS, but she repeatedly claims that she left the CoS, so I’m not sure what that’s about. She’s bashing Xenu all over the place, but maybe Cos has some kind of Xenu-baptism where you‘re a member for life or something? I’m quietly chanting “One of us… one of us” now. Shiver… okay, first, here’s a little snippet from The National Enquirer’s site (photo below is of Jason and Carmen in happier times, courtesy of IMDB):

In an explosive Enquirer exclusive interview the ex-wife of Earl star Jason Lee reveals all about the inner sanctum of Scientology — the Hollywood cult that masquerades as a “church”.

When Tom Cruise called Nicole Kidman a Scientologist, she shot him a look that could kill - and shortly afterward, the couple divorced!

That’s the blockbuster claim of former Scientologist and actress Carmen Llywellyn - the ex-wife of My Name is Earl star Jason Lee, who remains a member of the controversial church. And in an exclusive ENQUIRER interview, Carmen pulls aside the veil of secrecy surrounding the religion that some describe as a cult. She reveals for the first time ever how the church caters to its famous celebrity members, including Cruise, John Travolta and Lisa Marie Presley.

Carmen joined Scientology in 1995 after marrying Jason, but quit during their bitter divorce in 2002, and claims her association with the church still haunts her.

“I have never spoken about Scientology before, but I still have nightmares about these people. They ruined my life and my career. I ended up addicted to painkillers, and it took three rehabs to get me straight,” Carmen told The ENQUIRER. “If I see a Scientologist now, I cross the street.”

[From The National Enquirer]

Eh. Okay, let’s get to the good stuff from the print edition of the Enquirer:

*Carmen joined Scientology in 1995 after marrying Jason Lee, but she quit it when she and Jason divorced in 2002. Carmen says: “Jason’s message was that if I didn’t join, I wasn’t going to be with him… so I joined, but it was like a cult, and I foolishly allowed it to take root in me.”

*Carmen claims that Jason Lee was abusive. She says: “He was a drunk who beat me up… he whacked me in the face and knocked me unconscious. Once, I was knocked out cold for at least 30 seconds. I had to have my jaw wired.”

*When Carmen and Jason were going through their divorce, Carmen went to CoS meetings where she claims she was “browbeaten into signing a document that she claimed had been prepared by Jason and the church.” The agreement was for $22,141 a month for three years, plus $50,000 cash and a leased car. Meanwhile, Jason got their $2 million home, their cars, his businesses, residuals, stocks and pension accounts. Carmen says that she was brow-beaten because CoS didn’t want “to upset or lose their celebrity.” Carmen eventually hired a new lawyer who renegotiated her settlement deal.

*After “leaving” CoS, Carmen bumped into Jenna Elfman (Scientologist), and Carmen says: “I was shopping recently when Jenna approached me. She spouted statements like a robot and treated me like dirt because she knew I’d broken free.”

*Carmen and Jason met Tom Cruise when he was still with Nicole Kidman: “Jason and I were talking to Tom, and we told him that we went to the CoS center in LA. He said brightly, ‘Oh yeah? Well, me and Nicole are Scientologists too! Right, Nic?’ But she turned and gave Tom the most evil look. She stared at him for about 10 seconds, and Tom looked at her like he was throwing daggers with his eyes. I interpreted her look to mean, ‘I am not a Scientologist, and I will not be a Scientologist.’ She was clearly mad at Tom for saying she was. And the next thing you know, they’re getting a divorce!”

*More on Nicole and Tom: “At the time, the word went around all the Scientologists that ‘Nicole is an S.P. so Tom has to divorce her.’ An S.P. is a Suppressive Person, which is CoS jargon for the devil.”

*Carmen on Lisa-Marie Presley: “Jason and I were talking to Lisa Marie one night and we asked her ‘Come on tell us the truth, why did you really divorce Michael Jackson?’ She said, ‘The reason I finally left him was that I didn’t want him to be in the same room as my children!’”

*Carmen also says that John Travolta and Kelly Preston would always bring their daughter Ella to CoS functions, but never their son Jett. Carmen says she thought that was “odd”.

*In the end, Carmen says: “Scientology threatened my spiritual health, saying that I’d lose all my friends. I lost my manager and my career. People didn’t return my phone calls. Scientologists followed me down the street. They took pictures of my kids. They’d stake out my house, wait until we came out and follow us. They came looking for me to scare me, I was nearly suicidal.”

Ugh. I believe most of this. I really believe all of the Church of Scientology stuff, but I’m not so sure about the whole Jason Lee-is-an-abusive-drunk stuff. Do you think he hit her? I mean, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility, so whatever. It could have happened. I find the Nicole Kidman story very interesting, though. I would have paid money to see Nicole and Tom stare each other down as they engage in a mental battle over Xenu. And I’m totally buying that Tom divorced Nicole because, in his f-cked up head, Nicole was an “S.P.” Oh, the Enquirer also mentions that Carmen moved away from Hollywood so she wouldn’t have to deal with Xenu’s minions anymore. She now lives in Atlanta with her kids. Are any of Xenu’s minions in Georgia?

Photo of Carmen & Jason when they were together, courtesy of IMDB.