High Profile Scientologists: Tom, Travolta, and More!

[Wings]

It looks like celebs and the wealthy have no knowledge of the abuse.  I wonder how many are watching Leah.  Surely some must be curious or do they know and turn a blind eye?    How can we know about Sea Org yet people in the damn church don't?    I really want Leah and Mike to talk about this.  Maybe Jenna will if she is on.  

[WInterfalls]

It completely breaks my heart that Jason Dohring is a Scientologist.  He is just the one that I can't seem to blame or get upset at.  I go on believing he doesn't know what's going on so that I don't feel bad about loving him. 

1 hour ago, wings707 said:

 How can we know about Sea Org yet people in the damn church don't?

They know the Sea Org exists. Probably even look up to them as great examples of what a Scientologist should be. They just are left completely in the dark about Sea Org abuses because they aren't allowed to read anything on the internet about it. I don't know how anyone could know about the RPF and still think they are in a good religion though.  

[Wings]

8 minutes ago, WInterfalls said:

 

They know the Sea Org exists. Probably even look up to them as great examples of what a Scientologist should be. They just are left completely in the dark about Sea Org abuses because they aren't allowed to read anything on the internet about it. I don't know how anyone could know about the RPF and still think they are in a good religion though.  

Yes, of course.  Lol.  I meant the abuse! 

Edited June 7, 2017 by wings707

[Guest]

Because LRH taught that journalists are the enemy - they will never report the truth on Scientology.  I think many of them even see the "attacks" as proof this is true.  They're being brainwashed.  

Even the higher-ups - I alternate between pity and disgust for most of them. Even David Miscaviage was raised in Scientology - that type of cult-programming is hard to overcome. Reading his niece's book, I'm way less sympathetic to Mike Rinder than I was.  All the high-profile Scientologists that I've read about left once they personally experienced an attack from the church of sorts.  While I understand about their eyes opening, part of me also thinks "Why did it take that?"

[WInterfalls]

I know what you mean, Deaja. I had a lot less sympathy for Shelly Miscavige after reading Jenna's book. I still like Rinder a lot because you can see that he is kind of coming to terms with the things he did on behalf of the church and has made clear attempts to expose the church and their misdeeds.  I'm not necessarily super sympathetic toward him and the harassment he's endured but more pleased with the mission he has taken on and what he does now.  

[Guest]

1 hour ago, WInterfalls said:

I know what you mean, Deaja. I had a lot less sympathy for Shelly Miscavige after reading Jenna's book. I still like Rinder a lot because you can see that he is kind of coming to terms with the things he did on behalf of the church and has made clear attempts to expose the church and their misdeeds.  I'm not necessarily super sympathetic toward him and the harassment he's endured but more pleased with the mission he has taken on and what he does now.  

All of this really sums up my thoughts.  I think part of it was also reading Jenna's books - she clearly painted Marty Rathburn as a more sympathetic character than she did Mike Rinder.  It's just very mixed feelings to me.  I'm glad Mike Rinder is speaking out now for sure.

[MaggieG]

So Tom C's new movie The Mummy is getting savaged by the critics. I read on Twitter that someone called it "the worst Tom Cruise movie ever" and it got 27% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

[zxy556575]

45 minutes ago, MaggieG said:

So Tom C's new movie The Mummy is getting savaged by the critics.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

[Whimsy]

2 hours ago, MaggieG said:

So Tom C's new movie The Mummy is getting savaged by the critics. I read on Twitter that someone called it "the worst Tom Cruise movie ever" and it got 27% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

It looks really dumb. 

[Whimsy]

Just read this article with Elizabeth Moss.  It's press for The Handmaid's Tale (which is actually brilliant- I hate when I like things that have any association with Scientologists).  But, this paragraph dumbfounds me.  Especially the bolded part from Margaret Atwood.  Because all religions have their "pluses and minuses" it's all ok???  Seriously banging my head on my desk right now.

Quote

There's just one last thing left to pester her about, and I've saved it for last because it's the most likely to piss her off. She's said repeatedly on this tour and in profiles circa the last few seasons of Mad Men that she's said all she's ever going to say about being raised in Scientology. But... well, in the words of a recent Jezebel headline, "Isn't It Relevant That the Star of The Handmaid's Tale Belongs to a Secretive, Allegedly Oppressive Religion?"

Unsurprisingly, I get nowhere. To her, the show isn't about the danger of religious extremism, it's about the importance of religious freedom. "Whatever anyone believes, I don't believe that Church and State should get too close. And some of the things that have happened recently have really frightened me. For me, what the book and the show are so much about is that separation. It's a theocracy! No government should be run by any religion!" I press on, saying that after watching the show I've been thinking about the Hasidic Jewish women who live in my neighborhood in a different light. Their uniforms and constant pregnancy can't help but remind me of the Handmaids. "Except there's a huge difference," Moss says, "that they would be murdered in Gilead." (On the Wall that Offred and her fellow Handmaids pass on their walks, bodies are often marked with religious symbols; practicing a faith other than Gilead's ultra-Christianity is a capital offense.) For what it's worth, Margaret Atwood also considers Moss's religion to be a nonissue; to her, the alleged abuses that take place within Scientology are par for the course for any religion: "They all have their pluses and their minuses," she tells me, after listing a few of the lesser-known gory horrors found in the Old Testament.

[Glade]

Umm, no.  Scientology is a highly destructive for-profit cult that engages in human trafficking.  It's abuses aren't in books written centuries ago, but in the here and now.  I think it's very relevant.  And regardless of what her publicist says, Moss is a koolaid drinking member, who I'm sure was instructed to keep as much "respectful" distance and "respectful" silence in the face of evil suppressive criminal Nicole Kidman as possible whilst doing her job (making lots of money to donate to scientology.)  Leah has talked many times about how her old scientologist friends in the industry don't pick fights with her, they run out of the room the second they see her. 

[Earmuffs Mom]

On 6/6/2017 at 11:27 AM, deaja said:

They aren't asked for many donations or pressured the way non-celebrities are. Those working at the celebrity center are required to appear happy while there.  

I'm reading Troublemaker now and Leah mentioned more than once that she was pressured to make donations frequently before she left.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Earmuffs Mom said:

I'm reading Troublemaker now and Leah mentioned more than once that she was pressured to make donations frequently before she left.

Which could be that the book understated how  often they were asked or goes back to the speculation of Leah being treated differently than other celebs because she was in the Sea Org. Or some of both.

[Lugal]

On 6/8/2017 at 5:53 AM, GenL said:

For what it's worth, Margaret Atwood also considers Moss's religion to be a nonissue; to her, the alleged abuses that take place within Scientology are par for the course for any religion: "They all have their pluses and their minuses," she tells me, after listing a few of the lesser-known gory horrors found in the Old Testament.

Yes, Margaret Atwood, 3000 years ago the Israelites did much worse things than the Scientologists are doing now.

On 6/8/2017 at 6:08 PM, deaja said:

I'm reading Troublemaker now and Leah mentioned more than once that she was pressured to make donations frequently before she left.

I got the impression that everyone is pressured to make donations, but for a movie star to give a five figure donation is much different than the common parishioner trying to give a five figure donation and keep the bills paid.  Although it is why I heard Tom Cruise accepts every offer that comes his way to support the CO$.

[ramble]

I just read this piece in Variety   on the slow meltdown of little Tommy's career. It was interesting, but I immediately wondered if CO$ would be going after the author  

Also, this YouTube review of The Mummy has some fun little pokes at little Tommy. It's slightly silly how much I enjoy him being made fun of. 

Edited June 11, 2017 by ramble
fixed link

[Whimsy]

On ‎6‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 9:42 AM, ramble said:

I just read this piece in Variety   on the slow meltdown of little Tommy's career. It was interesting, but I immediately wondered if CO$ would be going after the author  

Also, this YouTube review of The Mummy has some fun little pokes at little Tommy. It's slightly silly how much I enjoy him being made fun of. 

From that article:

Quote

he’s doubled down on one thing and one thing only: the awesome global transcendence of his image. He’s still choosing movies like he’s king of the world.

That's because Scientology has told him that he is.  They also are probably gleaning tons of money off of him so he needs these blockbusters to keep paying.

[Guest]

On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 3:46 PM, GenL said:

From that article:

That's because Scientology has told him that he is.  They also are probably gleaning tons of money off of him so he needs these blockbusters to keep paying.

Actually, I think its a sign that he knows his career is slipping.  Its why when the Mummy was clearly going to get critically panned that he started pushing Top Gun: Maverick hard during promotion for the Mummy.  It had the reek of desperation that he feels he has only one flop before his career is effectively over and he needed the idea of a Top Gun sequel to deflect the failure.

I didn't actually realize that it was a failure on the scale of possibly making a universe of films, similar to Marvel and DC's strategy, not viable until I read this article.

Cruise really needs to extract Scientology from his career.  He needs a team that would downplay the role of Scientology in his life. 

I think his biggest problem is that through Scientology he's come to believe he's clearing the planet.  He thinks his real life character is just like his heroic franchise characters he plays.  And that means he's seen as a bad actor because he can't even pull off normal human being in an interview.  He always seems to be putting on an act. That was what I remember a lot of the couch jumping criticism being.  That he was acting like a movie character in love would act and had no idea how to actually be genuine.  That has never really went away.

[Wings]

The vast majority of people know nothing about Scientology and many fans don't even know of his affiliation with it.  He is very wealthy and will continue to make movies, he still has some box office draw.   His success or lack thereof will not bring COS down nor will it keep them going.  

Miscavich does not have an independent career, he relies on COS to support him.  I don't see Cruise giving up enough of his salary to make a dent in his own security.  If he gets wind that COS may really be in trouble and going down, he will stop the money train.  

[kieyra]

On 6/8/2017 at 3:08 PM, Glade said:

Umm, no.  Scientology is a highly destructive for-profit cult that engages in human trafficking.  It's abuses aren't in books written centuries ago, but in the here and now.  I think it's very relevant.  And regardless of what her publicist says, Moss is a koolaid drinking member, who I'm sure was instructed to keep as much "respectful" distance and "respectful" silence in the face of evil suppressive criminal Nicole Kidman as possible whilst doing her job (making lots of money to donate to scientology.)  Leah has talked many times about how her old scientologist friends in the industry don't pick fights with her, they run out of the room the second they see her. 

I had to check out of Handmaid's Tale when I found out Moss was Co$ because my mind doesn't bend far enough to deal with the irony of that situation. Too bad, it seemed like a compelling and timely show.

(Somehow I made it through all eleven billion seasons of Mad Men without knowing. Oh well.)

Someone upthread mentioned Jason Dohring. I hated his character on Veronica Mars, I think his acting is marginal to terrible, and I don't have the complication of finding him remotely attractive (beady eyes never, ever work for me). And *then* I found out he was Co$. Needless to say I am not thrilled to see him eating up screentime in iZombie, but I suspect they're desperate for ratings.

[greekmom]

On 6/14/2017 at 10:57 PM, kieyra said:

I had to check out of Handmaid's Tale when I found out Moss was Co$ because my mind doesn't bend far enough to deal with the irony of that situation. Too bad, it seemed like a compelling and timely show.

(Somehow I made it through all eleven billion seasons of Mad Men without knowing. Oh well.)

Someone upthread mentioned Jason Dohring. I hated his character on Veronica Mars, I think his acting is marginal to terrible, and I don't have the complication of finding him remotely attractive (beady eyes never, ever work for me). And *then* I found out he was Co$. Needless to say I am not thrilled to see him eating up screentime in iZombie, but I suspect they're desperate for ratings.

Something just died in me finding out Moss was Co$.  I really enjoyed the Handmaid's Tale.  But the irony isn't lost.

[Giselle]

On 6/19/2017 at 8:52 AM, greekmom said:

Something just died in me finding out Moss was Co$.  I really enjoyed the Handmaid's Tale.  But the irony isn't lost.

I enjoyed her in Mad Men before I knew she was Co$. I won't watch nor support anything she is in now. Only way to affect her is to not watch and don't TiVo anything she's in.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Giselle said:

I enjoyed her in Mad Men before I knew she was Co$. I won't watch nor support anything she is in now. Only way to affect her is to not watch and don't TiVo anything she's in.

I don't think I can give up Mad Men and The West Wing, but I won't be watching any of her new shows, including the Handmaid's Tale.

[Wings]

I looked up the comic Billy Connolly on youtube the other day.  He is an hysterical Scottish comic (fabulous).  There is not much of his work to see beyond interviews.  He was in a Cruise movie and they were both interviewed, this was years ago.  

Tom was not genuine at all when it would have been easy to do that.  He kept laughing at Billy (who was really funny) but he bent over and put his head between his knees, holding his face, faking hysteria.   Very weird to watch.   It was creepy.  He is a narcissist, I know that.  I am a retired therapist and was struck with how profound he showed the symptoms in this scenario where genuine would work better.   I never worked with one and watching it in action is chilling. 

Edited June 23, 2017 by wings707

[spiderpig]

2 minutes ago, wings707 said:

I looked up the comic Billy Connolly on youtube the other day.  He is an hysterical Scottish comic (fabulous).  There is not much of his work to see beyond interviews.  He was in a Cruise movie and they were both interviewed, this was years ago.  Tom was not genuine at all!  He kept laughing at Billy (who was really funny) but he bent over and put his head between his knees, holding his face, faking hysteria.   Very weird to watch.   It was creepy.  He presents as a narcissist.  This is not a random comment, I am a retired therapist.  Not a new theory, I was just struck with how profound he presented the symptoms in this scenario where genuine would work better.  It chilled me to my core.  Seriously. 

Isn't Billy a really close friend of Sean Connery (both Scottish - duh)?  He is hilarious and clearly gives the I-don't-give-a-shit vibe.  In total opposition to buttoned-up Tommy with his fakey-fake "emotional" responses.

I love puppies and kitties and flowers and sunshine - but I am so waiting for Tommy to fall flat on his face publicly.

[Wings]

Just now, spiderpig said:

Isn't Billy a really close friend of Sean Connery (both Scottish - duh)?  He is hilarious and clearly gives the I-don't-give-a-shit vibe.  In total opposition to buttoned-up Tommy with his fakey-fake "emotional" responses.

I love puppies and kitties and flowers and sunshine - but I am so waiting for Tommy to fall flat on his face publicly.

Since he is a public figure I wonder if he will crack when he reaches a point where he is no longer "the man."   It is entirely possible.  

[Giselle]

34 minutes ago, spiderpig said:

Isn't Billy a really close friend of Sean Connery (both Scottish - duh)?  He is hilarious and clearly gives the I-don't-give-a-shit vibe.  In total opposition to buttoned-up Tommy with his fakey-fake "emotional" responses.

I love puppies and kitties and flowers and sunshine - but I am so waiting for Tommy to fall flat on his face publicly.

I felt he did that when he took on Brook Shields and Matt Lauer with his absurd stance on postpartum depression  and the history of psychiatry.

The more he speaks without a script the more his lack of intelligence shows.

[Wings]

2 minutes ago, Giselle said:

I felt he did that when he took on Brook Shields and Matt Lauer with his absurd stance on postpartum depression  and the history of psychiatry.

The more he speaks without a script the more his lack of intelligence shows.

Yeah but he felt no impact in his wallet or stardom,   Money is a powerful antidote to most anything and he has plenty.  He will survive any major catastrophe in the box office.  Money does really buy what you need to survive, mental breakdown, mental illness or just being a huge cock head. 

[Wings]

Tonight on WWHL  Coen and Lauer did a spoof on the Cruise interview with Matt.  It was lame but the fact they did that is good. 

[spiderpig]

Just now, wings707 said:

Tonight on WWHL  Coen and Lauer did a spoof on the Cruise interview with Matt.  It was lame but the fact they did that is good. 

He's completely unaware that he's an international joke.

BTW, who's his latest very publicly heterosexual squeeze these days?

[Wings]

On 6/22/2017 at 11:53 PM, spiderpig said:

He's completely unaware that he's an international joke.

BTW, who's his latest very publicly heterosexual squeeze these days?

 Yeah Cruise has no idea he is a joke to some.  

Edited June 25, 2017 by wings707

[spiderpig]

4 minutes ago, wings707 said:

I don;t know.  What brought that up to you?

 

ETA,  Yeah Cruise has no idea he is a joke to some. 

Just that with military precision the CO$ trots out some female arm candy for Tommy.  I'm fine with him being gay, if he is. But he fights that image so relentlessly. He's so phony phony phony.  And utterly humorless.  Me, I'd say - hey - I like women.  Or I like men.  But I'm not good at relationships.  Gay stories?  Meh!  But we're talking the paragon of manliness Tommy here. He's tiresome, and a shitty actor.

[Wings]

I have entertained the thought that Tom and Miscavich are lovers because I am  not ruling anything out.  

[spiderpig]

7 minutes ago, wings707 said:

I have entertained the thought that Tom and Miscavich are lovers because I am  not ruling anything out.  

Both enablers, creeps, and totally not my type.  But I can't wait to find out how this scenario ends.  Team Leah!

[Giselle]

22 hours ago, wings707 said:

I don;t know.  What brought that up to you?

 

ETA,  Yeah Cruise has no idea he is a joke to some. 

I heard that he was trying to indoctrinate the actress who played Princess Margaret in the Netflix series The Crown. Poor girl.

Edited June 24, 2017 by Giselle
Title correction

[Wings]

1 hour ago, Giselle said:

I heard that he was trying to indoctrinate the actress who played Princess Margaret in the Netflix series The Queen. Poor girl.

Hopefully she does her research.  Maybe fans will give her the heads up on twitter.  

[tawny411]

I saw The Mummy. It is really bad. And Tom Cruise is bad in it. I've seen him in movies that weren't that good, but usually his performance was fine. I don't think I've ever seen him in anything this terrible. Maybe his career is finally on the downside. 

[Giselle]

On 6/24/2017 at 1:07 AM, tawny411 said:

I saw The Mummy. It is really bad. And Tom Cruise is bad in it. I've seen him in movies that weren't that good, but usually his performance was fine. I don't think I've ever seen him in anything this terrible. Maybe his career is finally on the downside. 

Unfortunately I don't think so. His domestic box-office numbers can suck from the crap he puts out but as long as his European and Asian box office numbers keep him generating a  MFT of money for the studios his career is good. It won't be quality but quantity.

Edited June 25, 2017 by Giselle

[Wings]

On 6/23/2017 at 0:05 AM, spiderpig said:

Just that with military precision the CO$ trots out some female arm candy for Tommy.  I'm fine with him being gay, if he is. But he fights that image so relentlessly. He's so phony phony phony.  And utterly humorless.  Me, I'd say - hey - I like women.  Or I like men.  But I'm not good at relationships.  Gay stories?  Meh!  But we're talking the paragon of manliness Tommy here. He's tiresome, and a shitty actor.

The first line of my post made no sense because it was to something else in another thread I think.   I agree with this. 

[spiderpig]

1 minute ago, wings707 said:

The first line of my post made no sense because it was to something else in another thread I think.   I agree with this. 

I love it when you don't make sense, wings.  You're so cute!

[Wings]

13 minutes ago, spiderpig said:

I love it when you don't make sense, wings.  You're so cute!

I am nearing the end of viable multi tasking.  

[shelley1234]

I find it interesting that in respect to Elisabeth Moss....it is almost always written about as she was "raised in Scientology."   It almost never says she is a Scientologist.   I get the feeling that she's no longer active and her silence might be to still be connected with those in and not be a suppressive person.   They seem to love to send the Hollywood elite out to spout the company line (like they did with Leah when she was on the inside), so the fact that she's won't say anything at all speaks volumes to me.  

[luvmylabs]

This probably has already been posted but I just learned that Catherine Bell is a practicing Scientologist.

Edited June 29, 2017 by luvmylabs

[WInterfalls]

She is and yet somehow she is also in a same sex relationship at the same time. I wonder how that works. 

[MaggieG]

On 6/23/2017 at 5:18 PM, Giselle said:

I heard that he was trying to indoctrinate the actress who played Princess Margaret in the Netflix series The Crown. Poor girl.

I saw a pic on Twitter, I think she is going to be in the new MI movie along with Michelle Monaghan

[kieyra]

Co$ member Jason Dohring apparently ate up a large chunk of the season finale of iZombie (I say apparently because I didn't watch the rest of it after I read about it). He was a fan favorite on Veronica Mars, and I'm sure the showrunner brought him back for that reason. I could be very snarky here (for example: his acting is terrible and he'll be eating screen time from two fantastic actors of color (show already has several white male leads)), but if I'm being honest I just don't like the actor, didn't like his character on VM and they've basically just continued the characterization from there. I'm sure he'll be a major part of the next season, so that's another show I have to drop. From what I've read, he had more screentime in the finale than many (most?) of the series regulars. 

So I'm grouchy.

iZombie spoiler:

Spoiler

Naturally the showrunner has the female lead act like an idiot and sleep with Dohring's character, because a lot of people apparently find him swoon-worthy.

[luvmylabs]

• Just saw Leah in an old episode of Diagnosis Murder.  All the while I'm thinking she' still a Scientologist at this time.  Wonder if she tried to lure in any of the cast

[msrachelj]

On 6/28/2017 at 0:39 PM, luvmylabs said:

This probably has already been posted but I just learned that Catherine Bell is a practicing Scientologist.

did not know she was gay.  are there any other scientologist who are?  we all have great suspicions of the scientologists who are allegedly hiding. though i don't know why anymore. it's pretty accepted in hollywood, it would make no difference to me , it's wrong they are denying their true being.

i can't stand her and i'm not surprised to hear she is a scientologist. i used to watch "the good witch" but it's really bad and there was always something off about that show. i thought it was an air of the perfect rich ( we can't discuss politics you fill in the blank) party lifestyle. but maybe it was scientology sneaking in.

[smorbie]

On 12/9/2016 at 5:31 PM, bethster2000 said:

Actress Anne Archer is a devout member.  Her son, Tommy Davis, was spokesperson for the cult for several years until he apparently "blew" with his wife.  His whereabouts are unknown.

 

On 12/9/2016 at 5:31 PM, bethster2000 said:

Actress Anne Archer is a devout member.  Her son, Tommy Davis, was spokesperson for the cult for several years until he apparently "blew" with his wife.  His whereabouts are unknown.

I thought she was gone, too.  I may have dreamt that, though.  The first time Tommy blew, they tracked him down and drug him back.  I don't think a lot has been said about him after he was successful in leaving the second time.  But, somehow, I got the idea he was still defending them (may have been the deal for their letting him go).  Interestingly, for me, at least was the Hubbard's own child, Quentin blew, something life four times before he was successful in leaving.  His own children had to escape from the church.

[Maelstrom]

6 hours ago, smorbie said:

Hubbard's own child, Quentin blew, something life four times before he was successful in leaving.  His own children had to escape from the church.

What makes this even more heartbreaking is that Quentin committed suicide when he was only 22, after several previous attempts. Going Clear went into his and Hubbard's relationship a bit, and it seems that Quentin was quite troubled and damaged by CO$, poor soul.

[smorbie]

On 12/10/2016 at 1:38 PM, juliet73 said:

I think it's interesting that both Jett and Ella Travolta were /are "heavy" kids.  Especially, since Kelly is so thin, etc.  I wonder if eating is their coping mechanism for dealing with Scientology and/or Scientology parents. 

John tends to be a chub when he's not working.  I think it's genetics on display.