Cult News

Is Scientology responsible for making Tom Cruise into “someone who effectuates creative suicide” as Viacom President Sumner Redstone told the Wall Street Journal?

The billionaire media mogul explained “His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount.”

And then Redstone did the unthinkable, he effectively dumped the “world’s greatest movie star.”

Now the former “Top Gun” is hoping some “hedge fund” will back his production company and Hollywood is buzzing with questions.

How could a star so high fall so far and this quickly?

Wasn’t it just a couple years ago that Tom Cruise could do no wrong?

Could the often-secretive Church of Scientology be part of the answer?

A writer for the Huffington Post claims that “anti-Scientology religious bigotry” was somehow responsible for the star’s demise.

But was it “bigotry” over Scientology or a reaction to Cruise’s increasingly bizarre behavior linked to the church that led to his downfall?

It’s been a heady ride for Tom Cruise from “Risky Business” to “Mission Impossible.” But has the star risen to such a height that his demands and hubris overreached the limit. And was his judgement somehow impaired?

Cruise arguably became both vindictive and punitive.

His often quoted rant about Brooke Shields taking anti-depression medication and an apparent absence of humor regarding a hilarious South Park send-up paved the way for the public to perceive the once popular star quite differently.

Instead of the carefully crafted image his former publicist Pat Kingsley helped to construct and burnish over the years when she represented the actor, cracks began to show in his famous facade.

The smile that once made Cruise a romantic leading man, appeared more like the demented grin of Jack Nicholson playing a madman.

What happened?

As CultNews reported previously strange behavior could be a byproduct of Scientology. 

Sitcom star Jeanna Elfman also appeared to be getting stranger as she moved up the ladder of Scientology’s spiritual training levels. Both Elfman and Cruise had been working on “Operating Thetan Level 7” (OT-7). Scientology has eight OT levels to ascend.

Rich stars like John Travolta (an OT-7), Cruise and Elfman have no problem paying for the expensive courses and “auditing” that enables them to reach this higher plateau within the organization that Time Magazine once called a “The Cult of Greed.”

But does continued Scientology training cause mental and/or emotional disturbances?

One example might be the case of Lisa McPherson, a dedicated long-term Scientologist that experienced a mental meltdown before dying under the care of Scientology.

Shortly before her untimely death at 36 the Scientologist who began taking courses at 23 told her spiritual caregivers in Clearwater, Florida “I am L. Ron Hubbard…I created time 3 billion years ago.”

A wrongful death suit filed by the young woman’s family ended after seven years of litigation when Scientology paid them off rather than go to trial.

Another claimed casualty of the controversial church was Lawrence Wollersheim, who said that Scientology’s influence drove him into a mental disorder and to the brink of suicide. 

Scientology eventually paid Wollersheim an $8.6 million dollar settlement.

What could this organization some have labeled a “Sci-fi cult” do to send its adherents into orbit?

According to the testimony of one former long-term member in a personal injury court case there are church drills and courses that “brainwash them.”

Tom Cruise “brainwashed”?

Perhaps “brainwashing” explains how a super star at the top of his game plunged into “creative suicide” through a series of personal and public meltdowns. 

Pat Kingsley must be shaking her head pondering how her once cooperative client went through such a series of hapless blunders, which ultimately led to an end result that Viacom chief Redstone said “costs the company revenue.” 

According to Joe Keldani, a Scientologist trained by that organization’s elite “Guardians Office,” something strange happened at the highest levels of Scientology during his watch.

Keldani claimed that “the first few hundred OT 8 got ill and had to be recalled for repair.”

Does Tom Cruise need to be recalled?

Sumner Redstone seems to think so, but he is not willing to pay the “repair” bill.