- RED CARPET: Valentine’s Day Los Angeles Premiere
- Jay Leno Talks Superbowl Ad With Letterman & Oprah
- Lindsay Lohan Is Cleaning Her House For Charity
- Rob Pattinson: Sex Scenes With Uma Thurman Were “Disturbing”
- Behind The Scenes With Gossip Girl Taylor Momsen
- Britney Spears Is Fine After Reported Hospital Scare
Paula Wagner Speaks Out On Tom Cruise Book
January 20th, 2008
Tom Cruise’s long-time friend and business partner, Paula Wagner, has released a statement supporting Cruise, following the release of Andrew Morton’s unauthorised biography on the star, and the widespread internet circulation of controversial video footage in which Cruise discusses his Scientology beliefs.
The nine-minute video, which was recorded for a 2004 International Association of Scientologists conference, shows Cruise explaining his beliefs and his dedication to being a Scientologist.
Wagner, who works alongside Cruise as the co-owner and CEO of their company United Artists Entertainment, released the following statement of support on Friday (January 18):
"I have known and worked with Tom for more than 25 years. He’s a rock-solid dependable partner, and I have the utmost respect and admiration for his talent, integrity, kindness, and dedication. Andrew Morton’s book is a disgraceful piece of gossip-mongering, filled with distortions and outright lies that no sensible person will take seriously. I am not a Scientologist, nor are most of the people Tom and I work with, but that doesn’t mean I can sit by silently while he is attacked for his religious beliefs. As a filmmaker and an American, I feel strongly that an individual’s religion should have no bearing on their professional life. I have always believed that Americans celebrated these differences, and to see the vitriol that has been directed towards my friend is truly discouraging. It’s easy to mock an out-of-context video, but that doesn’t change the fact that Tom Cruise is one of the hardest-working and nicest human beings I have ever known."
Next Truth: Sienna Miller: Denies Cheating With Sean Penn
Photo courtesy of United Artists.
January 20th, 2008 at 7:09 am
I have been a scientologist for 15 years and the little I read of the book (a sample chapter on internet) is all likely to be true. Scientologist are lied into believing they only can save the world from destruction and that with their technology of the mind they can give people godlike powers.
Yet they force their Sea Org staff into coerced abortions and treat as ‘enemy’ everyone who dares to leave the cult publicly. To know more about the cult ask ex-scientologist. They have sad reality stories to tell.
http://forum.exscn.net
January 20th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
If Tom Cruise didn’t come across as such a toss people would be more gracious and maybe this book not be believed. His actions of late tend to make him out to be some alien loving control freak and his view on his religion make him look like a dictator.
I use to like Tom Cruise but of late I think he is an absolute wanker who needs to pull his head in and keep his mouth shut maybe then he would gain back some crediability.
January 20th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
@Mark, stop link spamming!
What Cruise – or rather Scientology – is experience is religious discrimination born in the mind of some old-time Nazis. Certainly he is being attacked for creating a movie about the German resistance in World War II! That’s why such a movie is important and that’s why Paula Wagner needs to be congratulated for her honest and straight answer to the current hate mongering.
January 21st, 2008 at 10:03 pm
I have never seen in all my life so many attacks, bullying and lack of respect towards a human being due to his religious beliefs. Where is the famous “freedom of thought” from the Constitution? Or the “freedom of thought” from the Human Rights? It’s so low… if that’s not pure bigotry you tell what it is… If they did that to Christians or Jewish that would be a huge scandal. I totally agree with Paula Wagner.
January 21st, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Scientology helped me a lot over 23 years and it still helps me. I did many courses during this time and I have been doing better and better in life. I first came out of a depression and then I have achieved many goals I honestly thought were out of reach for me – my self esteem and habilities have kept increasing and that’s the key. I am very interested in its spiritual side and it’s a journey full of surprises. It has been funny to read all those invented stories in the media during all these years. That is not Scientology. They are just fabrications and have nothing to do with the actual Scientology that I’ve known first hand for so many years.
January 21st, 2008 at 10:06 pm
It’s hilarious to see how easy is to brainwash people. Apparently someone has been busy inventing nonsenses about Tom Cruise and throwing them to the press people for years and it’s Andrew Morton’s turn now – the man just invented a Tom Cruise biography which is to say a lie-ography. The funniest thing of this all is that part of the media believe the lies and publish them and part of the public fall in the trap too. I wonder who is crazy here… We have seen so many lies published about Tom Cruise in the last couple of years like the placenta story and that Suri didn’t exist that I wonder how some people can still believe those crazy stories… What’s next? That Katie Holmes is actually the daughter of Snow White? Or that Tom Cruise was made of wood and then became human like Pinocchio? Any media reporting those lies should be ashamed. And the people believing them should seriously worry about their mental health. Please stop hanging a honest man based only on lies you are told by the media.
January 21st, 2008 at 10:12 pm
I saw the 3 hours event video at a Church of Scientology and it was a beautiful one. Tom Cruise’s acceptance speech was great but if you take it out of context, edit it and put it all over the internet you are falsely creating an illusion of craziness. Don’t you find that really evil?
February 10th, 2008 at 12:57 am
i used to watch tom cruise’ movies,since he has gotten older or has become a scietologist he’s gotten goofy,he was never a great actor but he was enterteining. now it seems this scientology stuff has made him wierder to me. he follows the teachings of l.ron hubbard? he tells matt lauer that he knows the history of psychiatry? is this the wisdom he has gain in his forty something years on earth! ms. wagner should tell cruise he is lucky mr. lauer was nice to him.idiot, just my opinion. such ramblings has made me anti-cruise. “xenu” can kiss my ass. was cruise ever in the military or serve his country in some fashion or form, did he ever see the carnage of war. his freedom of religion came with a price.to hear a young man cry for his mother, then god, because he knows he is about to die. scientology is a spoiled man’s religion. you pay absurd amounts of money to reach a certain level?that sounds like a religion for the rich; not the rejected,the poor,the homeless. only the rich or privilaged would think like a scientologist.by the way scientologist your not the only ones who can help in a crisis, i’ve done it many times and i’ve seen others do it. to summarize:scientology is a bullshit religious cult. i will never watch a tom cruise movie,or king of queens,travolta,kirstie alley, again and i will urge others not to watch them. your tearing at the very fabric that made this country great, god and country. goddamn it. grow the fuck up, your not special or enlightened, your privilaged.sorry went on a rant there.
December 23rd, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Google Xenu