Scientologists Got Me Fired: Fox Columnist

'We never took our eyes off prize,' actor tells faithful

(NEWSER) - Tom Cruise was one of the inspirational speakers at a secret Scientology confab in Britain, apparently attributing his success to his membership in the controversial organization. Cruise was joined by Katie Holmes and daughter Suri, John Tavolta and Kelly Preston, and some 4000 other guests at the hush-hush international gathering in West Sussex. "Because we never took our eyes off the prize, we stand where we are today," Cruise told the mob, Us reports. "We are in this together!" As for protesters outside, Cruise snorted: "They're squirrels." More»

Also talks Scientology in 'Playboy' interview

(NEWSER) - Tom Cruise promotes his upcoming musical Rock of Ages in the latest issue of Playboy , but not surprisingly, the movie talk isn’t getting quite as much attention as the quotes about Cruise’s personal life. Some highlights:

• On plastic surgery: "I haven't [gotten any], and I never would."
• On his PR nightmare: Asked what he learned from his controversial interview with Matt Lauer (in which he disparaged psychiatry and prescription drugs for post-partum depression) and his Oprah couch fiasco, Cruise replied, “When I go back and look at it, I find myself thinking, I don’t feel that way. I get how it came across, but I don’t feel that way, and I never have. Telling people how to live their lives? I saw how that came across and how pieces were edited.”

Apparently there's a lot of clay, and perhaps some grade inflation to boot

(NEWSER) - They grow up so fast: Suri Cruise’s first day of school—Scientology-flavored school—was last week. So what’s it like at the New Village Leadership Academy in Calabasas, California, which uses L. Ron Hubbard’s “study technology” educational system? Well, for one thing, there’s a lot of clay. Sculpting is apparently big at schools like this, Slate explains, because Hubbard said students are frustrated when they have no access to “mass,” or the physical presence of whatever object they’re studying. According to the official study technology website, without mass students feel, among other things, “sort of spinny” and “squashed.” Therefore, Suri will probably be encouraged to use clay to sculpt concepts she’s learning about. More»

Kelly gives first interview since birth of Benjamin

(NEWSER) - John Travolta's wife gave birth to new son Benjamin in total silence because that's what Scientology demands, right? Well, sort of. "It's just no words as much as possible. If you need to moan, if you cry out or all of that, of course, that's normal," Kelly Preston said on the Today Show . "But just bringing them in as peaceful and gentle a way as possible." Why? She explains, somewhat confusingly, that Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard found that "stress, fears, worry, things like that have to do with the reactive mind and in that part of the mind is different words and commands that can come back to affect you later in life." More»

Actor's lawyer calls new book defamatory

(NEWSER) - A new book that offers a peek inside the wacky world of Scientology includes some interesting tidbits about—who else?—Tom Cruise. But what we call juicy, Cruise's lawyer calls "demonstrably false and defamatory." So what exactly is he worried about?

• Author Amy Scobee, an ex-Scientoloist in LA, claims that Cruise was worried his "drug history" would keep him from joining the church, Gawker reports.