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High Profile Scientologists: Tom, Travolta, and More!

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RedheadZombie

RedheadZombie

3 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

I think Tom generally gets too much credit with the idea that Scientology brainwashed him into dissolving his marriage.

If you read about his first marriage, he clearly used Scientology to extract himself from that marriage when he was already cheating with Kidman.  Scientology tried to stop his marriage to Kidman and Cruise put his foot down to the point that DM made a show of punishing the person he assigned to try to break them up before they got married to keep Cruise happy.

Scientology certainly didn't help matters, but I think Cruise was looking for an exit with Kidman.  If you read about the filming of Eyes Wide Shut, it sounds like that would have been as damaging to the relationship based on the way Kubrik worked as anything Scientology can cook up.

I don't think Cruise is brainwashed.  I think his involvement with Scientology is inversely related to his movie career.  The cooler his movie career gets, the more he looks for the ego stroking from the Co$.  And he hasn't had a hugely popular movie since the mid-90s.

Interesting.

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hatchetgirl

hatchetgirl

So, this may seem awful but not bad intentions meant...

I worked with an awesome, witty gay guy, who catered celebrity parties.  He said he did a party for Tom and at some point, Tom pushed him down a hall and pushed hard for sex. This guy said no and Tom kept pushing. This guy finally just pushed him off and immediately left. He was not a liar and very much a good guy, so I tend to believe him. 

Of course, nothing against gay people, but very against what I consider assault.

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funky-rat

funky-rat

7 hours ago, hatchetgirl said:

So, this may seem awful but not bad intentions meant...

I worked with an awesome, witty gay guy, who catered celebrity parties.  He said he did a party for Tom and at some point, Tom pushed him down a hall and pushed hard for sex. This guy said no and Tom kept pushing. This guy finally just pushed him off and immediately left. He was not a liar and very much a good guy, so I tend to believe him. 

Of course, nothing against gay people, but very against what I consider assault.

I never felt he was outright gay, but I have always felt he enjoys a variety of things in that regard.

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TheGreenWave

TheGreenWave

On ‎1‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 10:29 AM, laurakaye said:

The "black turtleneck" interview with Tom Cruise

Does anyone remember the spoof that Jerry O'Connell did after this interview was leaked?  Funny stuff (and I'm sort of surprised CO$ didn't go after him in some way....)

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HunterHunted

HunterHunted

21 hours ago, RedheadZombie said:

Welcome.  They discussed their marriage in Going Clear.  Tom had drifted away from the "church" during their marriage, but was still in contact with Miscavige.  It was during the fifteen month shoot in London for Eyes Wide Shut, that DM totally freaked out at his inability to get to Cruise.  It was then that he gave orders to break up the marriage.  He was incidentally helped by Cruise's affair with Penelope Cruz.  Or maybe he began the affair when they started brainwashing him against Nicole.

If only DM had realized that the reason he didn't have easy access to Tom was because of Stanley Kubrick, many things might have played out differently.

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HunterHunted

HunterHunted

(edited)
1 hour ago, wings707 said:

Why?  Please say more.  :^)

Kubrick was a taskmaster. He made them do dozens of takes for the most minute things. The original schedule to film was 6 months. It ultimately took 15 months to film and they still had reshoots. He approved everyone who was on set and didn't like sets where randoms would come and go. When they filmed, they had like the barest minimum of people on set. He had Cruise and Kidman live in the apartment where their characters lived. He had Tom and Nicole talk about what they didn't like about each other. Kubrick very much believed in emotional vulnerability and thought an open set undermined his ability to get an emotionally vulnerable performance from his actors. There is no way that Kubrick would have let all of those Scientology minders be on set.

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/07/eyes-wide-shut-tom-cruise-nicole-kidman

The experience was traumatizing enough that Cruise ended up with ulcers. It's possible that had DM left Cruise alone, the experience of filming Eyes might have brought Cruise and Kidman closer. However, it's also possible that the experience was enough to put a ton of strain on their relationship. It's just funny that DM took his inability to keep in contact with Cruise as a sign that Cruise was pulling away when in actuality Kubrick did this kind of thing all the time.

DM felt like he had to break up their marriage when they'd just spent a year and a half in each other's faces talking about they hated about each other. If DM had left them alone, they might have self destructed on their own. DM was so desperate to keep Cruise that he spent all that time after Eyes removing everyone who wasn't 100% Scientology out of Tom's life. Tom's marriage to Katie is all part of DM's overcorrection because of Eyes. DM pushed Tom to proselytize more, which ended up pissing off Spielberg. And ultimately, it's given the American public enough of a distaste of Cruise that they have advertise his movies weirdly.

@wings707 it's possible his daughter becoming a Scientologist did impact how Kubrick oversaw the film. The movie is based on a novela, but the kidnapping plot doesn't appear to be part of the plot.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Story?wprov=sfla1

Edited by HunterHunted
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Whimsy

Whimsy

2 hours ago, truebluesmoky said:

 

On a personal fan level, the ones that bother me the most ....  and Jason Dohring (Veronica Mars)

 

What??  No!  Wth. Why do I keep getting my heart broken in this thread!!

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ramble

ramble

On 1/19/2017 at 0:43 PM, druzy said:

Funny or Die

Jerry admits he hid from Tom Cruise after video-lol

I am sitting in the car line waiting to pick up my kiddos & laughing loudly & probably obnoxiously. I loved that spoof!

My kids & I have gotten in the habit of yelling WORD at each other if we use a "college" word. (That's our lingo for big words used in place of simpler ones.) Imagine this: 

Child 1: "I'm completely famished"

Child 2: WORD"

Me: She's hungry. 

And then we laugh & laugh. Scientology - unintentionally providing humor & family bonding. 

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redpencil

redpencil

On 1/19/2017 at 4:33 PM, GenL said:

What??  No!  Wth. Why do I keep getting my heart broken in this thread!!

Dohring being a Scientologist was pretty well-known among the hardcore VM fandom at the time (at least in my corner of it). Of course, this was before Going Clear or any of the other recent exposes on Scientology, so it wasn't really controversial. He's also second generation Scientologist, so he's similar to Leah in that way. His family is very well-off (dad founded Neopets and a couple other companies, I think) and are bigtime donors who have received those dumb "awards" they give out at Scientology events. You can see a picture of their family at one of them on Tony Ortega's blog here.

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Whimsy

Whimsy

17 hours ago, redpencil said:

Dohring being a Scientologist was pretty well-known among the hardcore VM fandom at the time (at least in my corner of it). Of course, this was before Going Clear or any of the other recent exposes on Scientology, so it wasn't really controversial. He's also second generation Scientologist, so he's similar to Leah in that way. His family is very well-off (dad founded Neopets and a couple other companies, I think) and are bigtime donors who have received those dumb "awards" they give out at Scientology events. You can see a picture of their family at one of them on Tony Ortega's blog here.

I was a HUGE fan of his during VM, but I didn't really know anything about Scientology so that was not on my radar. I also was a huge fan of Neopets lol 

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Wings

Wings

I would venture to guess that most clam celebs have googled and know what is going on.  They don't have to escape nor do they have a story to tell.  My hunch is that they do not consider themselves part of it anymore.  They may still believe in whatever it is they teach that is useful.  As far as giving them money, I have no clue.  How do you stop doing that without announcing your departure officially?  

When COS finally collapses or fades away, we will probably hear Cruise, Kirsty and Travolta maintain that they don't need the organization to continue their belief in it.  And of course Cruise will give his  maniacal laugh at the mere thought that all these things ever happened.  

They will be collateral damage but what they will experience, I don't know.  Cruise is moving to Clearwater.

https://therealdeal.com/miami/2016/12/18/report-tom-cruise-to-move-to-clearwater-to-help-church/

Kirsty has a home there. 

http://www.sptimes.com/News/051700/NorthPinellas/Kirstie_Alley_buys_Pr.shtml

Travolta lives in Ocala, 90 miles away and has opened a COS there. 

http://www.scientologynews.org/press-releases/grand-opening-scientology-ideal-mission-opens-ocala.html

When Miscavich disappears I suppose they will carry on without Sea Org.  

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green

green

Well Clearwater sure has gone to hell since I moved out pre-Scientology invasion. 

And Ocala?  That is some hardcore old school redneck territory hot as hell 9 to 10 months of the year outside of AC homes and cars since there is no ocean breezes there.  Throwing up some rich housing isn't gone to change that.

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HunterHunted

HunterHunted

21 hours ago, wings707 said:

I would venture to guess that most clam celebs have googled and know what is going on.  They don't have to escape nor do they have a story to tell.  My hunch is that they do not consider themselves part of it anymore.  They may still believe in whatever it is they teach that is useful.  As far as giving them money, I have no clue.  How do you stop doing that without announcing your departure officially?  

When COS finally collapses or fades away, we will probably hear Cruise, Kirsty and Travolta maintain that they don't need the organization to continue their belief in it.  And of course Cruise will give his  maniacal laugh at the mere thought that all these things ever happened.  

They will be collateral damage but what they will experience, I don't know.  

I don't know if most celebrity Scientologists have googled about the Co$. Except for Cruise, Alley, Travolta, and nominally Elfman, the most famous Scientologists are all like Leah--second generation. They've all grown up in this community. They've surrounded themselves with Scientologists. Even googling is likely to result in knowledge reports. The Ribisis, the Mastersons, Elizabeth Moss, Jason Dohiring, Beck, and Juliette Lewis are probably going to be ride or die unless they witness something really awful.

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pinguina

pinguina

Just some random thoughts on cult's famous people -

I have disliked Tom Cruise since Risky Business - My friends made me go see that movie (yeah - I'm that old).  I just couldn't like him.  I heard stories about how nice he is to people but still thought he was kind of shady.  Then the interviews with Oprah and Math L. - that just cemented my opinion of him even more.  Plus seeing how he "handled" Katie Holmes was awful.  I saw the "turtleneck" video and being rewarded the "medal", all kinds of crazy (BTW Jerry O'Connell nailed it!).  So count me as one of his (many - I hope!) non-fans.

I always thought John Travolta was a nice person, just confused.  I think when he began to have success he tied it to his cult's practices and went with it.  Plus aren't cult members told that if anything good happens it's due to the cult? So he felt more obligated to cult.  When his career wasn't going so well, it was his fault (he had crimes, failure to be better, secrets).  I thought he was passive when his friend (Spanky?) wanted out, he could have helped her get out.   Although he didn't overtly help, he also didn't seem to be stopping her.  I hope that one day he wakes up or stops wearing blinders. 

As for the rest of them -eh. What has Kirsty Alley, Jenna Elfman done lately? And the girl from That 70's Show (and now OITNB) - so?   Everyone else? Never heard of them.  (Well, Beck - but again what has he done lately. If he has I didn't hear of it.)

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spiderpig

spiderpig

I think your analysis is spot-on, pinguina.  There's a quote in the TV series "Hannibal" (which was brilliantly done IMHO) where a psychiatrist describes Dr. Lecter as "wearing a person suit".  That's how I feel about Cruise.  No depth, warmth, compassion...I just don't get him at all.

I have quite a bit of compassion for Travolta.  If you're anywhere near my generation (and John's) you probably recall when it was generally accepted to openly ridicule gays.  If that's John's "secret crime", all the more shame on The Cult for latching onto it and exploiting him.  John keeps his Cult connection pretty much on the downlow, unlike Cruise who comes across as an overbearing maniac on the subject.  We'll never know, but I would guess The Cult is beating John over the head with guilt over the tragic death of his son, blaming it on some past transgression.

It's kind of funny that The Cult likes to splash "Celebrity Centre" on their buildings, when as you point out, there really aren't that many celebrities who admit to being involved.

Very astute post, pinguina.

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Josette

Josette

Nancy Cartwright is an extreme Scientologist who is very active in fund-raising for Scientology. She even has a title for herself: Royal Governor of the Vast Valley Territory.   Pretty sure she'll stick with it to the bitter end and beyond.

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ParadoxLost

ParadoxLost

7 minutes ago, Josette said:

Nancy Cartwright is an extreme Scientologist who is very active in fund-raising for Scientology. She even has a title for herself: Royal Governor of the Vast Valley Territory.   Pretty sure she'll stick with it to the bitter end and beyond.

She's also been known to voice Bart Simpson in  robo / telemarketing calls promoting Scientology.

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Whimsy

Whimsy

5 hours ago, pinguina said:

(Well, Beck - but again what has he done lately. If he has I didn't hear of it

Well, he won a grammy in 2015 for best album and has a new one coming out soon (it was supposed to come out in 10/22 but was delayed). He's been consistently putting out music, but unless someone is big fan, they wouldn't necessarily know that.  I just can't quit his music.... 

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dcubed

dcubed

1 minute ago, GenL said:

Well, he won a grammy in 2015 for best album and has a new one coming out soon (it was supposed to come out in 10/22 but was delayed). He's been consistently putting out music, but unless someone is big fan, they wouldn't necessarily know that.  I just can't quit his music.... 

"Who's Beck?", asks Kanye.

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charmed1

charmed1

I'm not a fan of South Park at all, but I'm an Isaac Hayes fan and it broke my heart when he had to quit the show. Especially because he seemed to enjoy it so much. I hate that he died still a member of this cult. 

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Tiger

Tiger

8 hours ago, charmed1 said:

I'm not a fan of South Park at all, but I'm an Isaac Hayes fan and it broke my heart when he had to quit the show. Especially because he seemed to enjoy it so much. I hate that he died still a member of this cult. 

Apparantly there are conflicting stories on this.  I believe one of Hayes' son's who is not a $cieno came out later and said his father had suffered a stroke almost simulteanous to that episode being produced, and that someone who was not authorized to act on his behalf of his father quit the show.  

My opinion is that Matt & Trey later believe(d) this version of events and did that episode where Chef returns brainwashed by the Superadventure Club and then killed and ressurected by them as "evidence" of this.  

And frankly I thought multiple characters referring to The Superadventure Club as "that fruity little club" was almost more bitting than the stuff in the Tom Cruise ep.

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TheGreenWave

TheGreenWave

18 hours ago, spiderpig said:

I have quite a bit of compassion for Travolta

So this story might change your mind.  My sister worked at a very high end resort in Phoenix at the spa's appointment center during the early 90s while in college.  She was told by her supervisor that Travolta had a LIFETIME ban from making appointments there due to his harassment of the male staff.  No joke.  I have not been able to look at him the same way since. 

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fastiller

fastiller

6 hours ago, afterbite said:

IMDB tells me that Laura Prepon and Ben Foster are having a baby. I like Ben Foster. I like Ribisi. I like Beth Riesgraf. Why, CO$, why? Why must you collect people I like?

&

2 hours ago, 3girlsforus said:

NO!!!!!! Not Parker!!!!

I also felt this way.  Someone suggested that now that Jason Lee has left, Riesgraf may have as well.  Not sure how that computes, because I think they're no longer together, but anyway...

22 hours ago, pinguina said:

I have disliked Tom Cruise since Risky Business - My friends made me go see that movie (yeah - I'm that old).  I just couldn't like him.  I heard stories about how nice he is to people but still thought he was kind of shady.  Then the interviews with Oprah and Math L. - that just cemented my opinion of him even more.  Plus seeing how he "handled" Katie Holmes was awful.  I saw the "turtleneck" video and being rewarded the "medal", all kinds of crazy (BTW Jerry O'Connell nailed it!).  So count me as one of his (many - I hope!) non-fans.

@pinguina I think you're a good judge of character; see Taps Trivia, from IMDb:

Quote

Prior to the production of the film, the key actors -Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise and others - were required to participate in a 45-day-long period of orientation with the students of Valley Forge Military Academy. They were given uniforms, borrowed from their real life counterparts at the school and given authentic military haircuts. They slept in campus barracks and were subjected to the same rigors and hardship that all Valley Forge cadets went through. While most of the actors enjoyed and excelled at their orientation, Cruise opted to leave the training for the comforts of a nearby hotel until filming began.

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CatMomma

CatMomma

1 hour ago, TheGreenWave said:

So this story might change your mind.  My sister worked at a very high end resort in Phoenix at the spa's appointment center during the early 90s while in college.  She was told by her supervisor that Travolta had a LIFETIME ban from making appointments there due to his harassment of the male staff.  No joke.  I have not been able to look at him the same way since. 

I don't doubt it.  I do blame Scientology teachings for his behavior. He's been forced to suppress a huge part of who he is for decades. I'm not defending him, I just think this is another example of how damaging Scientology can be to the human psych.  I can't imagine, as a heterosexual, being told constantly that my thoughts, feelings, and attraction to men is evil, deviant, and the lowest of humanity. So, then I go through the auditing process for hours (which sounds like torture) When JT joined Scientology, society pretty much agreed with that assessment regarding homosexuality and bisexuality. He was very young and cults can be very persuasive. Hell, Steve Hassan said he was willing to kill for his leader.

Again, not defending him.  I feel terrible for his victims.  But, I can't help feeling they are also victims of Scientology. 

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TheGreenWave

TheGreenWave

(edited)
19 hours ago, CatMomma said:

I don't doubt it.  I do blame Scientology teachings for his behavior. He's been forced to suppress a huge part of who he is for decades. I'm not defending him, I just think this is another example of how damaging Scientology can be to the human psych.  I can't imagine, as a heterosexual, being told constantly that my thoughts, feelings, and attraction to men is evil, deviant, and the lowest of humanity. So, then I go through the auditing process for hours (which sounds like torture) When JT joined Scientology, society pretty much agreed with that assessment regarding homosexuality and bisexuality. He was very young and cults can be very persuasive. Hell, Steve Hassan said he was willing to kill for his leader.

Again, not defending him.  I feel terrible for his victims.  But, I can't help feeling they are also victims of Scientology. 

I just can't get behind this.  He assaulted men, repeatedly, and was finally banned from this facility.  When I saw the news reports about masseurs suing him, I totally knew it was true (which signaled to me that he has been doing this for decades).  Perhaps it would be one thing to be caught with male escorts, it is quite different to assault someone who has told you "No!"

ETA: Sorry, CatMomma - it was definitely not my intent to misrepresent your original post.

Edited by TheGreenWave
I didn't want to give the impression i was misrepresenting another's post.
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CatMomma

CatMomma

17 minutes ago, TheGreenWave said:

I just can't get behind this.  He assaulted men, repeatedly, and was finally banned from this facility.  When I saw the news reports about masseurs suing him, I totally knew it was true (which signaled to me that he has been doing this for decades).  Perhaps it would be one thing to be caught with male escorts, it is quite different to assault someone who has told you "No!"

I understand. He has allegedly committed multiple assaults and should be prosecuted. I wish one of his victims would press charges.   I just know that conversion therapy is one of the most heinous things done to a human being, and in most states, it is legal. It's not like Scientology is the only "church" doing this. Our current VP believes in this shit.   I know it's hard to understand because it is psychological, not physical, but it is torture.

I really don't want to be contrary, but I don't like that you quoted one sentence from my entire post.  I was pretty clear that I wasn't defending his actions, only that the cult he belongs to could possibly contribute to his behavior.

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Wings

Wings

22 hours ago, spiderpig said:

I think your analysis is spot-on, pinguina.  There's a quote in the TV series "Hannibal" (which was brilliantly done IMHO) where a psychiatrist describes Dr. Lecter as "wearing a person suit".  That's how I feel about Cruise.  No depth, warmth, compassion...I just don't get him at all.

I have quite a bit of compassion for Travolta.  If you're anywhere near my generation (and John's) you probably recall when it was generally accepted to openly ridicule gays.  If that's John's "secret crime", all the more shame on The Cult for latching onto it and exploiting him.  John keeps his Cult connection pretty much on the downlow, unlike Cruise who comes across as an overbearing maniac on the subject.  We'll never know, but I would guess The Cult is beating John over the head with guilt over the tragic death of his son, blaming it on some past transgression.

It's kind of funny that The Cult likes to splash "Celebrity Centre" on their buildings, when as you point out, there really aren't that many celebrities who admit to being involved.

Very astute post, pinguina.

Love the bold, perfect.  I think COS is probably stroking Travolta and not giving him any shit about his son's death.  He is one of the 3 top celebs and DM wants to keep him happy.  

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andromeda331

andromeda331

15 hours ago, afterbite said:

IMDB tells me that Laura Prepon and Ben Foster are having a baby. I like Ben Foster. I like Ribisi. I like Beth Riesgraf. Why, CO$, why? Why must you collect people I like?

I admit I'm having a hard time imagining Parker in Scientology, Parker in the Sea Org, Parker being audited,...unless she wanted a challenge of breaking into DM's safe or something.  

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Summer

Summer

I just rewatched the video (saw it once during Going Clear) of Miscavige awarding Tom Cruise that fake medal of honor or whatever the hell it was and I don't even know where to begin with how ridiculous it was.  That  stupid/serious "I'm so honored" look on his face as he goes up on stage and then he salutes DM.  Salutes him???  Neither one of them are or ever were in the military, unbelievable.   It's like two little kids (emphasis on "little") playing Army.   Then after DM puts the medal around his neck TC takes a deep breath and just stares at it. He is just SO HONORED.  Then they both stare into each others eyes for, like, 5 minutes all the while TC murmuring Thank you,thank you.  Because this is SUCH AN HONOR.   It was truly nauseating and my cringe factor was off the charts.  What a dope.   

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AZChristian

AZChristian

Couldn't sleep last night, so got up to watch TV about midnight.  Just in time for the remake of "The Taking of Pelham 123."  John Travolta was absolutely frightening.  And all I could think of during the whole movie was "what does Co$ know about this guy to keep him in the cult?"

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Summer

Summer

On January 28, 2017 at 10:10 AM, AZChristian said:

And all I could think of during the whole movie was "what does Co$ know about this guy to keep him in the cult?"

Exactly, AZChristian.  There has to be some level of truth to all those stories that have circulated throughout the years of John Travolta propositioning massage parlor guys and CO$ has gone into overdrive trying to squash and/or threaten them into silence.  

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Maelstrom

Maelstrom

OK, I read the links upthread about Kubrick and the filming of Eyes Wide Shut, and damn. Far be it from me to defend COB's bestest little buddy Tom, but it sounds like Kubrick's treatment would've left any actor unhinged, CO$ or not. Yikes.

 

On January 23, 2017 at 8:16 PM, ParadoxLost said:

She's also been known to voice Bart Simpson in  robo / telemarketing calls promoting Scientology.

For shame!!

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Uncle JUICE

Uncle JUICE

28 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

I'm really surprised Matt Groening allows her to fundraise for a cult using Bart's voice.

Maybe she's just going to say "He, it's my voice" (unless she's saying "This is Bart Simpson, calling on behalf of Scientology," then you're talking about improper use of someone else's IP). Or maybe he thinks "Way more trouble than it's worth," upsetting that apple cart. 

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LilWharveyGal

LilWharveyGal

I hate to bring this up in such a classy joint, but at the grocery store I noticed that the tabloids have jumped on the Scientology-is-news bandwagon.  One claims that Tom and Leah are in a feud, another that John Travolta is being held captive by the "church."

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