What’s the Snark on Tom Cruise?

24:51And they rely on each other to cover things up. It's not subjective. It's not an opinion. This is fact. And there are many, many things that have pointed us to this. It's very corrupt. And it's really scary because you have the wealthiest, most powerful people that are shaking hands with people in bureaucratic positions. You should be very scared of it. It's very unsettling. Yeah, it's terrifying. And that is why when Leah Remini, new Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, by the way, reported Shelly Miscovige as missing in 2013 because she had not been seen since 2007. And Leah was really good friends with Shelly back in the day.

25:25She was like, this woman is missing, reported her missing, LAPD, open and shut. They were like, yeah, we found her. She's totally fine. Is she? She hasn't been seen since fucking 2007. If she was fine, they would be trotting her out because there's so much speculation about her disappearance. So speaking of Shelly Miskovich, David Miskovich, Tom Cruise's bestie since the 80s, and again, met through Mimi Rogers. and they were married from 1987 to 1990. And in a 1993 Playboy interview, Mimi discussed her split from Cruz and said that he had been considering becoming a monk. Again, like it's like priest, monk, I'm gonna join this Scientology cult.

26:09It's a cult is what it is. And she later retracted these comments and claimed she had been misinterpreted. But she said that, you know, she felt like she was living in the shadow of Tom Cruise. She's just Tom Cruise's wife, you know. and didn't feel like an individual anymore. And she ended up receiving a$4 million divorce settlement. And 1990 is when his involvement in Scientology became public. And he formally announced it in a 1992 interview with Barbara Walters. And I think it's definitely possible that in the early 90s, Scientology was not, there weren't like big exposés on what Scientology is yet.

26:56So it wasn't controversial yet. But he said that Scientology actually helped him overcome his dyslexia through its teaching method, study technology. And a couple of years into it, the org leaders started sharing Scientology secrets with him. Like information, this is so fucking weird. Like, Scientology is so weird and scary, you guys. So there's an ET ruler called Xenu, a figure in the Church of Scientology's confidential upper-level teachings, where he appears in material known as Operating Thetan Level 3. The Xenu narrative forms part of their space opera teachings about ancient extraterrestrial civilizations, catastrophic events in the distant past and their continuing effects on the spiritual condition of humanity.

27:46And these materials are treated as trade secrets and are normally disclosed only to Scientologists who have completed extensive coursework and probably audited a lot, aka lots of blackmail on them. It's so fucking scary. Like, what are they even talking about? Like, I'm sorry, if you're a Scientologist baby snark, actually, I'm not sorry. Like, that's weird. No. Well, I don't think we would ever have that parallel. I feel like they wouldn't even be listening because they would consider us blasphemous. But what I was going to say is— They would call us oppressive persons. Yeah, they would. And I was going to say that when you hear about Scientology, you have these big names, these A-list celebrities like John Travolta and Tom Cruise.

28:32But I feel like—and as we know with Tom Cruise's upbringing, it seems like he was the perfect candidate to be poached and brought into this cult. but they really prey on very very weak people it's um like like any cult really they see vulnerable people that are in a very vulnerable position that are very malleable are very um what's the word i'm looking for um vulnerable impressionable and it's it's very very unsettling and they just they completely warp your brain it's yeah yeah so apparently he started to get kind of like cold feed about Scientology around this time. And he took a step back for a little to work on Eyes Wide Shut.

29:13And it's also speculated that Nicole Kidman was one of the reasons that he started to pull back from the church, which is also why David Miscovige was like, you need to get rid of her. You need to leave Nicole because she is a suppressive person. And a suppressive person in Scientology terms is, let me look at the actual definition so I don't botch it, but it's basically someone that anyone that doesn't like Scientology and or criticizes Scientology. So anyone that is not on board with their like crazy shit. Okay. So Tom later sparked controversy in the 2000s with his efforts to promote Scientology to the public.

29:51In the aftermath of September 11th, he co-founded and raised donations for Downtown Medical to offer New York City rescue workers detoxification therapy. Which obviously drew criticism. Detoxification therapy. Which obviously drew, it's one of those hokey Scientology things. And this obviously drew criticism from like actual medical professionals. It's like this is not what they need right now. They need like actual help. You know what it's reminding me of? What? Bella Hadid and her IV drips at the yoga studios. At the yoga lunch. It kind of is. It's very, it's very similar to that. It's like this isn't like real like medical science.

30:30Yeah. No, it's just a bunch of junk science. In late 2004, David Miskovich created the Scientology Freedom Medal of Valor and awarded it to Cruz for his work. Which, by the way, we're making fun of Scientology and David Miskovich so much in this episode. Like, if something happens to us, you know who it was. Like, we are not suicidal. Yeah. If something happens to us, like, after this episode is released, like, I'm actually scared of them. They're so fucking scary and weird. I remember when I released something on Exmo's All, everyone was like, you're pretty ballsy to have even the word Scientology in your episode description.

31:04Oh, my God. Like, we're going to publish this episode and, like, we're going to have, they're going to start wiretapping us. And they're going to be like, oh, my God, why are they always talking about, like, Vanderpump roles in Drew Starkey? um former scientologist paul haggis has claimed that tom attempted to convert several celebrities to scientology including james packer the beckhams jada pickett will smith steven spielberg etc i'm sorry i could see jada and will like being totally on board though i could too but apparently they were not convinced um and since 2008 he has restricted interviewers from asking him about Scientology because now it's more taboo than it used to be.

31:47He has also campaigned for Scientology to be recognized as an official religion. It's like, no thanks. Europe is like all about like foundational principles. And I like like I don't know, it's just more traditional over there. I feel like they're like, what are you even talking about? Yeah. Yeah. So specifically in Europe and some of the European leaders that he lobbied to described him as a militant spokesman for Scientology and barred any further dealings with him. They were like, we're scared. Like French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, for example. Isn't that Mary Kate Olsen's... I think he's related to Mary Kate Olsen.

32:27Wait, no. No, I think you're mixing him up. She was... The ex-husband was something with like the French. Oliver Sarkozy. he was a french banker his half brother was nicholas arcosi the oh you're right you're right you're right i don't mess up my mary k nashley facts i know you don't okay good job good job nance you were correct um okay so let's talk about the psychiatry thing because scientology is not a fan of psychiatry um like what is it with them in psychology i don't understand or psychiatry. But in 2004, he controversially said that he thinks psychiatry should be outlawed. And he criticized Brooke Shields for using the antidepressant Paxil to treat postpartum depression.

33:16She was very open about this. And he denied the existence of chemical imbalances in the brain and described psychiatry as a form of pseudoscience. Oh, and your weird IVs at the Yoga Lottie studio isn't? Yeah. And Brooke Shields said that Cruz should stick to saving the world from aliens and let women who are experiencing postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them. And in 2006, he ultimately apologized to her for his comments. But yeah, so Scientology is very well known for opposition to mainstream psychiatry and psychoactive drugs for whatever reason. I think it's because they think that you can like fix the mind when you connect with Xenu, you know?

33:54Yeah. No, that's exactly it. It's so fucking weird. So famously, I remember this like it was yesterday. He gets into it with Matt Lauer, who also sucks, by the way. But at the time, we were all team Matt Lauer because Matt Lauer was like defending, you know, antidepressants and Brooke Shields and postpartum depression. He's like, these things are real. And Tom Cruise called psychiatry a pseudoscience. And he said to Matt Lauer, you don't know the history of psychiatry. I do. He called him glib. He said, you're glib, Matt. You're glib. And this was like a huge, this was a huge deal. It basically means that you're like ignorant.

34:32Okay. What's the actual definition? Because when I hear it, I think of ignorant. It basically means stupid. Yeah. The definition says speaking in a smooth and easy way, but showing a lack of sincerity, deep thought or honesty. Yeah. It's like you're kind of just like stupid, insincere, ignorant. And he later returned a couple years later and said, I came across as arrogant and apologized. But speaking of Steven Spielberg, who we mentioned earlier, his anti-psychiatry actions apparently caused a rift with Steven Spielberg. And he had reportedly mentioned in Cruz's presence the name of a doctor friend who described psychiatric medication.

35:12Shortly thereafter, the doctor's office was picketed by Scientologists, reportedly angering Steven Spielberg. Crazy. Imagine you show up to your place of work, you're like a nurse at the doctor's office, and there's Scientology picketers outside your place of work, place of employment. Crazy. That's very unsettling. Just for being doctors who help people. Correct. Like, it's so crazy. 2005. Again, these are when all of these, like, bad PR moments are happening. He jumps on Oprah Winfrey's couch and professing his love for Katie Holmes, which, again, an iconic moment. We all remember where we were.

35:47and this is apparently all of these things happened in a row right after he fired his longtime publicist pat kingsley so she was kind of like keeping his ass in check for years and this is also when his paramount partnership um dissolved and this was like such it's so funny how big of a deal the couch jumping thing was at a time like looking back at it it's like what's a big deal. Like he was in love. But it really like kind of shattered that carefully curated image that he had, you know, like he was like this big, like serious movie star. Now it's like, whoa, you're acting crazy. You know, what's interesting?

36:27Randomly, I was stumbling like on text, just doom scrolling. And I decided to look that moment up because obviously I remember it, but I was younger. Yeah. And I rewatched and I was thinking like, it was definitely unhinged, undoubtedly but i feel like because the way that we were back then was far more buttoned up because we didn't have camera phones would this be as i'm not saying it wasn't nuts it definitely was nuts period objectively but like do you think it would get the same media attention if it if he had done that today it would be like that was weird but i think if people like move on from it like yeah like the news cycle so quickly yeah the news cycle is so fast now but like at the time this was like such a big deal like if you're a gen z listening to this and you don't remember this happening this was like i don't even know what like this was such a fucking big deal to me it's like when brenny spears shaved her head tom cruise yeah honestly and yeah um it it was crazy to see someone so typically yeah buttoned up a-list actor act so seemingly erratically yeah on national television um so let's on the topic of his scientology let's talk about his relationship with Miscavige.

37:34So David Miscavige was, like I said, the best man at Tom's 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes. And according to that Going Clear documentary, Miscavige regarded Cruz as one of the few people he trusted to run the church. And this person, this source from the Church of Scientology said that Tom Cruise said there's a hierarchy. It's LRH, L. Ron Hubbard. Then there's, you know, David Miscovige. And then there's me. Like he was like the number three Scientologist of all time, in his opinion. And David Miscovige was like, he just prided himself on being able to produce with a snap of his fingers anything Cruz ever wanted or desired and was able to, at the same time, remove obstacles in his life, such as his, for example, you know, wife, Nicole Kidman, who was an obstacle to Tom Cruz in the Church of Scientology.

38:45And I think that there were apparently a lot of people in the Church of Scientology who did not like this relationship and do not like this relationship because they think Tom Cruise gets special treatment versus the people that have like literally like, like the fact that David Miscovige stood up in front of the entire church basically and called him, and this is all alleged obviously via Going Clear documentaries, ex-church members, etc. Which by the way, it is not easy to leave the church. Like, there are so many reports of people trying to leave the church and being stalked and harassed for life by the Church of Scientology.

39:28But there are people that have gotten out and they have reported and talked, including Leah Rebini. Again, real house of Beverly Hills. And so David Miskovich was like, Tom is the best Scientologist I know. and there were like people that served in the sea org which if you know anything about Scientology the sea org is like these people are working 17 plus hours a day every single day and they're literally abused they're making pennies it's borderline slave labor and they're choosing to do this because they're like I mean they're to an extent you know you can't really leave once you once you start but like they are dedicating themselves to the cause of Scientology and they sign quote unquote billion year contracts and say they'll work through multiple lifetimes because Scientologists believe that like there's going to be another dimension another lifetime with reading a contract fucking Xenu Xenu reading a contract that refers to billion years is so unsettling for some reason so scary like I don't want to do anything for a Work 18-hour days for pennies.

40:38Yeah. And it's, I think from my recollection, like the Sea Org, it's kind of like they put you through like a little boot camp university, like the TLDR of Scientology. But they're also working you like physically labor, laborious tasks and things like that. Yes. And these people are giving up contact with their families because if your family is not in the Church of Scientology, they are seen as suppressive people. You are not supposed to have any contact with them. So these people have dedicated their lives to Scientology. And then all of a sudden you have David Miscovige trouting around this, you know, celebrity like an ornament is how they see it.

41:12And also these people are working so hard, like working all of these, you know, hours for no money. And then you have David Miscovige and Tom Cruise living like fucking kings because the Church of Scientology is tax exempt. Yeah. Because they're a quote unquote church. So they don't have to pay taxes. They make so much money. Yeah. And, okay, let's quickly talk about where is Shelley Miskovich, which we briefly mentioned up top. But David's wife, Shelley, hasn't been seen since August 2007. And some people think she lives at a secret Scientology compound. Some think she's dead. uh leah remini like i said was sounding the alarm on this before really anyone and officially filed a missing persons report in 2013 like i said the lapd looked into it and said they they were like we found her she's good it was the case yeah and like you said scientology and lapd are very very very intertwined and also the fact that Scientology does not pay taxes.

42:29They have so much fucking money and power now. They were battling with the IRS for tax exemption for years and ended up winning this battle. And this has totally, totally, totally transformed and like changed their financial position, obviously, not having to pay fucking taxes. It's crazy. That's crazy. That's what I say about the Kardashians. Whether or not that's true, I don't know. But that Christian has that church that they funnel all their funds through so that they can be tax exempt. I 100 % believe it. I do, too. Okay, so his marriage to Nicole Kidman. So they met on Days of Thunder and married in December 1990.

43:10And they adopted Isabella in 1992 and Connor in 1995. Fun fact, they went to camp with my cousins. And they're apparently very normal. What? And they co-starred in Far and Away and Eyes Wide Shut. And Tom Cruise filed for divorce in February 2001. And this was two days after announcing the separation and citing irreconcilable differences. And two months after they renewed their vows on their 10th anniversary. And the 10-year thing is interesting because California treats 10 years as a threshold for extended spousal support obligations. So I guess he claimed the marriage was over prior to the tenure, Annie, presumably so he wouldn't have to pay the long term spousal support, I guess.

43:54It's kind of confusing.

43:59And Nicole Kidman famously told David Letterman after they split that she could wear heels now. He didn't allow her to wear heels because she's so much taller than him. And then there is the famous picture of her celebrating after being divorced. Yeah, he's 5 '7", according to Google. Yeah, not a tall guy. And apparently he wears, like, in movies, they make him look taller with, like, lifts and, like, props. Okay, so, yeah, it's widely known that the children, Bella and Connor, became estranged from Nicole Kidman after the divorce because they were being raised in Scientology. And Nicole Kidman, at this point, was seen as a suppressive person.

44:39So they were not supposed to have any contact with her. And it's actually so sad. Like, these kids were taken from her, and she has been open about struggling with infertility for years, which is why they adopted. And apparently, the Church of Scientology decided to wiretap her, allegedly. and so Marty Rathbun was once the second highest ranking church executive and he was allegedly assigned to facilitate the breakup with Nicole Kidman he told Going Clear that the church wiretapped her phone and worked to turn the couple's adopted children against her and they were concerned like I said because Tom Cruise was drifting away from the church during his marriage to Nicole and they were concerned and she was also raised a Roman Catholic and was already listed as a potential trouble source by the church because her father was a prominent psychiatrist.

45:33Obviously, they don't like psychiatrists, you know? Wait, Nicole's dad? Yeah. We could do a whole episode on him. There's a lot of dark stuff about him as well. About Nicole Kidman's dad? Oh, yeah. Oh, I had no idea. Oh, yeah. We'll do that on Patreon. It's not safe for the public. I had literally no idea. I need to look at that. Oh, yeah, no. It's pretty dark. But yeah, so David Miskiewicz, what? Oh, I was just going to say, I was just looking at the recording laws for California. California is a strict two-party consent state, meaning you cannot legally record a confidential conversation without the permission of every person involved.

46:06So it's crazy that someone like Nicole Kidman with all these means comes from a very powerful family. She can't even go against the Church of Scientology when she was illegally wiretapped. Her phone calls were illegally wiretapped. Like, this is just how much control. No, they won't do anything. They will not do shit. But yeah, so David Miskovich was getting jealous and alarmed because Tom Cruise was spending so much time with Nicole filming Eyes Wide Shut and like wasn't returning his calls. And he was like, Nicole's got to go. So yeah, it's unclear whether any actual information was like collected, but David Miskavich was kind of pioneering this split.

46:49So there's also the lore around Tom Cruise and Scientology, like auditioning girlfriends. Vanity Fair reported that the church ran a top secret process auditioning Scientologist actresses for the role of Cruise's girlfriend. They selected Nazanin Boneyati in 2004. She was 25 at the time, a pre-med student and a young Scientologist, and she was told she was getting a special assignment. Stop, it's scaring me. I know, it's so scary. They wanted to find Tom a drop-dead beautiful true believer to share his life. It's like so crazy and weird. And of course she would be like young, impressionable, 25, you know.

47:37Yeah. Yeah. And she was told that she was being chosen for a mission and was really going to save the world. And she was going to be meeting dignitaries. It was very important that she look good and be worldly. And she had no idea at first that it was Tom Cruise. Then she was like, oh, this is for Tom Cruise. um and yeah so this was only after she was flown first class to new york did she discover the actual role that the church wanted her to play she was to be the first lady of scientology basically scientology is through the girlfriend of scientology's biggest star and she was living with him with in a month um and signed a confidentiality agreement and this process apparently was overseen by shelly miscovige what um they also made her break up with her boyfriend who she like wanted to marry.

48:29And they actually manipulated her into dumping him. She's handed a transcript of his auditing session, which he admitted that he had an affair. So she broke up with him. Crazy. Yeah. So she was totally separated from her family at this point, living with Tom Cruise. And if she messed up being Tom Cruise's girlfriend, she would be declared an enemy of Scientology. And Boneyard was reportedly sent to a Scientology center where she broke down and revealed her relationship with Cruz to a friend, which supposedly violated her confidentiality agreement. As punishment, Vanity Fair says her chores included scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush, cleaning tiles with acid, and digging ditches in the middle of the night.

49:14What? Yeah. Scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush, cleaning tiles with acid? Yeah. What? This is like psychological warfare. What? And a former Scientologist, Paul Haggis, said that she was 100 % bullied. And the relationship ended in January 2005, just three months before Cruz appeared in public with Katie Holmes. And he apparently wanted someone with her own power, like Nicole Kidman, so someone with her own star power. And Boniotti later publicly broke up with the church, confirming her departure via an anti-Scientology rap track, naming Cruz and Travolta specifically. And she also signed an NDA with the church, but as pressured by the church usually.

49:59And the Church of Scientology told ABC News this entire story is hogwash. There was no project, secret or otherwise, ever conducted by the church to find a bride, audition or otherwise, for any member. So. Sure, Jan. So let's talk about his relationship with Katie Holmes. Also, really quickly, I was just trying to figure out what the difference in Tom Cruise's involvement with Scientology versus John Travolta. It seems like Tom Cruise has even higher status. Because he's like best friends with David Miscovige. Yes. I think he's closer than John Travolta is. But John Travolta is another star of the church, obviously.

50:36Right. So let's talk about his relationship with Katie Holmes. So they had a rapid courtship in 2005. They had their daughter Suri in April 2006 and then married in Italy in November 2006. And when it comes to Suri being born, I don't know if you remember these rumors being reported at the time that Katie wasn't allowed to scream or speak or make any sound during childbirth because it's against Scientology. They have silent birth guidelines. Yeah, it's crazy. So who knows if that's true, but that was like the rumor at the time. Also, Katie Holmes, this was like her Bob era. And I remember thinking that she was like the chicest person alive, even though I was like, ew, you're with like a scary Scientologist.

51:19I was like, you're chic. And Katie Holmes filed for divorce in New York in June 2012. And she was seeking sole custody of Suri. And there was speculation immediately centered on her wanting to raise Suri outside Scientology. and the LA Times reported that she set the divorce in motion using a throwaway cell phone provided by a friend so she could talk to her New York lawyers without crews or staff knowing like she was fucking being watched all the time and like wiretapped. That is so, you need a burner phone to communicate to attorneys to want to divorce your husband. Crazy. Because he's, yeah, because he has a whole team working against you.

51:58Oh my God, this is a prison. A settlement was reached 11 days after filing. So I'm sure he was like, just go. I'll pay you whatever you want. Just go. And it is reported that Tom Cruise has no relationship with Suri. He hasn't seen her in years. Apparently he severed contact with her when she was seven. And in Scientology, this is known as disconnection. And like, imagine thinking your seven-year-old is like a suppressive person. Like, I can't, like, bad vibes, you know? Like, Suri, my seven-year-old, suppressive person. It's crazy. I know. She's 19 years old now. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And she dropped Cruz from her name when she was 18.

52:37Yeah. They apparently haven't seen each other in years. And yeah, Katie was like, I'm not raising her in the church. Understandably so. He didn't attend her high school graduation. He has had nothing to do with her for years, which he denies, by the way. He has, like, said that this is not true. But by all accounts, this is true. And yeah, and Katie Holmes, you know, it's really been confirmed that she was like, I need to protect my daughter from Scientology. And she like could not have gotten out of the church fast enough, which is totally understandable. As you guys know, I am obsessed with cozy season.

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54:31John Deere is putting in work and putting up highlights. Oh, man, look at those passes. Tillage, planting, harvesting. Three years in, and these pre-owned machines are still at the top of their game. We're talking reliability, performance, and long-term potential. And get this, these veteran machines can pick up the latest precision tech with ease. You know it, and fans ready to add John Deere's certified pre-owned equipment and more options to their lineup can shop at machinefinder.com. Booyah! John Deere is putting in work and putting up highlights. Oh man, look at those passes. Tillage, planting, harvesting.

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55:46And get this, these veteran machines can pick up the latest precision tech with ease. You know it, and fans ready to add John Deere certified pre-owned equipment and more options to their lineup can shop at machinefinder.com. Booyah! So, there have been many lawsuits and many rumors about Tom Cruise over the years. So one of which dates back to 1998. He successfully sued a British tabloid over an allegation that his marriage to Kidman was a sham covering his homosexuality. And there are many rumors about this, about Tom Cruise's sexuality. And what's interesting is that there are also a lot of rumors about John Travolta's sexuality.

56:28And that is one of the people speculate. Obviously, this is purely speculative that this is what has been audited out of them is their true sexuality and that this is why they can never leave the church because they would be outed by the church. Yeah. No, I mean, I've heard these rumors. I mean, since we were kids, honestly, like I just feel like this is a. But I don't know if it's true or not. But what I'm saying is, like, if that were the case, that they were hiding their sexuality, it makes sense why they would be so hesitant to leave the church in fear of, like, the retaliation. It's the perfect blackmail that Scientology would have on them.

57:06Yeah. Us Magazine published something similar in 1995, saying that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, you know, it was an arranged marriage that they were under the understanding that he was gay and there, you know, he couldn't father children, etc., which is why they adopted and called him sterile, homosexual. Obviously, like really just it's no one's business if he is these things. So the lawsuit is completely warranted. But again, these rumors have kind of persisted for quite some time. And in 2003, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman won a reported six figure libel summoner traction over claims that their marriage was an arrangement by the Church of Scientology.

57:52So again, another rumor of an arranged marriage. it also claimed the same thing that he was impotent or sterile and that they adopted their two children on a whim which again is not the account that Nicole Kidman has said over the years which is that she struggled with infertility for a really long time but I wouldn't put it past the Church of Scientology to be like blaming on Nicole Kidman's fertility issues rather than his totally totally like I'm sorry I could totally see that I mean Surrey Cruz does look like him so like totally does agreed. Yeah. I remember when she was a baby, we're like, oh my God.

58:27Yeah. Yeah. Totally. So it's, yeah. I have zero doubt that that is his kid. Yeah. Bold Magazine in 2001 claimed that they had a video proving Tom Cruise was gay. He sued for a hundred million dollars. And again, it's just like over and over and over again. He, there are these rumors and he is not, you know, gun-shy when it comes to taking legal action against people. Another one claimed that Chad Slater had a gay affair with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman discovered it and that's why she ended their marriage. And he won a$10 million judgment in a lawsuit against another male porn actor who alleged they had an affair.

59:15So it's like over and over and over again, these rumors have persisted. But he also is, you know, successfully suing them. So who knows? So in 2012, In Touch and Life and Style claimed Cruz had abandoned Surrey and he sued for$50 million. He said, I have in no way cut Surrey out of my life, whether physically, emotional, financially or otherwise. And they settled in December 2013 on confidential terms, dismissed with prejudice, each side with its own costs. But it is pretty obvious that, you know, they have no relationship to this day. So let's talk about some of his other relationships over the years.

59:57There was Penelope Cruz, and this was between Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes from 2001 to 2004. Vanilla Sky is one that I've seen. Have you seen Vanilla Sky? No. Oh, it's so weird. Okay, but they were Vanilla Sky co-stars. and then Haley Atwell from 2020 to 2022, allegedly.

1:00:20And she denied the rumor. She said it was weird. That's what I would say. If someone linked me to Tom Cruise, I'd be like, that's weird. Yeah, I know. And then there's Ana de Armas. And this one I thought was like, oh, so. Oh my gosh, yes. This seemed very bizarre. She did have been Affleck too, right? Um, yes, she did. Yeah, this seemed this seemed like arranged. So they were seen together as early as February 2025. And sources at early meetings concerned potential collaborations. And by October 20, 2025, it was reported that they had either quietly split or were never really romantically involved.

1:01:02This seemed like another arranged like Scientology, you know, things. Yeah. and the darmire is genuinely so stunning like she's so pretty she is she is um so leo remini just like some other quick hits about his connection to scientology leo remini who left the church in 2013 alleged that he is treated as a deity within scientology and that he personally administered discipline to members of miscovige's direction at gold base like he would he would punish people. And her memoir, Troublemaker, describes Cruz berating staff and behaving like a child who had never been told no. I believe it. Yeah.

1:01:45I believe it. Speaking of John Travolta, apparently he has a rivalry with John Travolta because they are like two of the church's marquee members. So like there's like competition there. Yeah. You know, there's like... It seems like Tom Tom Cruise is more vocal, I think, about his involvement. But and it seems like they have different statuses, like from what I'm reading versus Tom Cruise. Like the OT levels are different. And Tom Cruise has a higher OT level than John Travolta does. But I can imagine it might be like a dick measuring contest of like who's more impressive and has more accolades in the church.

1:02:26Yeah. So as of today, on November 16th, 2025, the Academy's 16th Governor's Awards awarded him an honorary Academy Award. So he has won an Academy Award, just an honorary one. And presented by Alejandro Gianarrito, who said, Cruz doesn't just make movies, he is movies. And this is unfortunately true, I think, despite how horrible of a human being he is. And Inyorito is directing him in the satirical black slash absurdist comedy movie Digger. And I recently saw this trailer and this comes out in October 2026. And it actually looks really good. Yes. I saw it when I was the Odyssey. Yeah. Yeah. So he basically plays kind of like an Elon Musk type figure who's like this eccentric billionaire oil magnate.

1:03:22powerful guy who like has to, he like was destroying the world and now needs to save it or something. I don't know. I, it's been a while since I saw this trailer, but it's with Jesse Plemets and John Goodwin. It looks pretty good. And this is his like not first non-action lead in years. So I think it's like pretty highly anticipated. Um, but yeah, overall I would say with Tom Cruise. He is a very problematic person. His association with Scientology in and of itself is problematic. He is freaking weird and bizarre. Yeah. But a movie star. And that's kind of like my I'm curious what you guys think.

1:04:08Like, are you able to separate the art and the artist when it comes to Tom Cruise. Because of course, it depends on the person. It totally depends. You know, like we mentioned earlier, like R. Kelly or Jared Leto. How do you feel about Tom Cruise? Are you able to separate, you know, all of the dark things about science? And this is only scratching the surface when it comes to Scientology. There's obviously so much to unpack when it comes to the darkness of Scientology. Again, that would have to require like a totally separate episode but this is like kind of like the top line tom cruise and scientology and how they are obviously intrinsically involved i was gonna say too i think the difference with tom cruise and say jared leto is with jared leto and r kelly you can actually name the victims and they're people that you don't know like they're innocent like not that nicole kidman wasn't innocent like she obviously was a victim 100 but they don't have like the wealth and status that say nicole kidman and Katie Holmes have.

1:05:07So people are more willing to kind of like turn a blind eye to Tom Cruise simply because his victims are more high profile and have more, I don't know, status than other victims like R. Kelly or something. Maybe that's why people kind of give him a pass because like his victims aren't like blatantly in your face. I also think it's like it's almost apples and oranges. Like when we say R. Kelly and Tom Cruise, they are totally problematic for different reasons. absolutely so it's like you can't really compare them um but I think that Tom Cruise like I said is just such a movie star that it is so and he's so effortlessly enjoyable and charming when you watch him in movies that like like especially if you're like an action movie lover like you are a Tom Cruise fan probably Top Gun Mission Impossible whatever it is like he is a movie star unfortunately um but yeah curious what you guys think and yeah thank you for being here hopefully i was able to give this the um you know the respect that it deserves this episode i think this is a very juicy important episode um i think we definitely need to do like a deeper dive on scientology itself maybe on patreon um which by the way patreon link is in our show notes yesterday Friday, Christy walked us through the expose about Crime Junkie and Ashley Flowers.

1:06:34So, and then our newsletter goes out every Friday and that is also in our show notes. Yeah. So lots of fun things, you guys. Check out everything we mentioned in the show notes and we'll see you guys on Tuesday for another episode of DET. Talk to you guys later. Bye. Bye.

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