Scientology Gossip

Tom Cruise, a close family friend of John Travolta and Kelly Preston, is speaking out about the tragic death of their 16-year-old son Jett Travolta, who died January 2.

"I remember Jett when he was born," Cruise said on The View. "I saw him when he was just a few months old. John just adored him, and both of his children, and Kelly."

Jett died on January 2 after suffering a seizure while vacationing with his family in the Bahamas. A private memorial service in Ocala, Fla. was scheduled for Thursday.

"I just don't have the words for it," says Cruise, who was there to discuss Valkyrie, but was clearly choked up talking about the Travoltas. "It's just horrific. Here you have a man, both of them doting parents, they're wonderful people and…"

As for some of the speculation that the Travoltas did not seek medical help for Jett, who had a history of seizures, because of Scientology beliefs, Tom Cruise, also a Scientologist, says the religion does not discourage medical attention.

"That's just not true," he says. "They say, 'Get your physical, get your medication, get your physical illnesses handled.' It's actually the exact opposite."

More than three years after he famously called Matt Lauer "glib," movie star Tom Cruise admitted on Monday's Today show that he "came across arrogant."

"After looking at it, it's not what I had intended," Cruise told Lauer. "That's one of those things that you go, 'I could have handled that better.' I didn't communicate it the way that I wanted to communicate it. That's not who I am."

Cruise said he isn't done publicly talking about Scientology or expressing his views on controversial social issues. But only at the appropriate times.

"I just think there's a time and a place for it," he said. "But when people are tuning in to hear about my movie, that's what I'm here to talk about it."

Rocky II, it wasn't. The star was downright humble this time around. Click to enlarge more Tom Cruise pics on and behind the scenes of the Today set ...

A security guard at Hollywood's Scientology Celebrity Centre shot and killed an unidentified man wielding two Samurai swords on Sunday.

According to police, the man showed up in a red convertible and approached three guards around noon in the parking lot of the castle-like facility - which counts Scientolo-celebs Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise among its guests.

Deputy Chief Terry S. Hara of the Los Angeles Police Department said the man was "close enough to hurt them" when one of the guards took him out.

Asked if the shooting was justified, Hara confirmed it was, saying "the evidence itself, it's very clear. The security officers were defending their safety."

Detective Wendi Berndt told The Los Angeles Times that the man - who was in his 40s - was involved with the church of Scientology a long time ago: "There was a previous relationship. But it is unclear to what degree."

In other news, the Scientology building totally misspelled "Center" on its sign!

Tom Cruise has bigger problems than the fashion sense of Suri Cruise and Katie Holmes (matching outfits, come on). We're talking about bribing judges!

Church of Scientology critic Peter Letterese is currently accusing some of the leaders of the controversial religion (including Tom Cruise) of paying off a federal judge and others to hold up a $250 million lawsuit he filed back in July.

In response to these alleged dastardly deeds, Letterese has amended the suit for an extra $15 million. That's right. He now wants $265 million.

Moving forward with a lawsuit against the famously litigous Church of Scientology is a challenging enough task to achieve, but accusing federal judges of taking bribes would make Letterese’s difficult battle seem impossibly uphill.

The defendants don't seem too worried about it, either.

As an associate of Tom Cruise was quoted as saying:

“Without compelling proof to support these allegations, like video of the judges being handed envelopes of cash, I think he stands a better chance of successfully bouncing down a flight of stairs on his head than he has of winning this lawsuit.”

Well, not exactly. While Katie Holmes' Broadway debut was well received by critics and theater-goers, it wasn't a big hit with some of the angry peeps above.

Protesters outside the "All My Sons" production were out to express their displeasure with the cult, er, religion of Scientology and its best-known ambassador, Tom Cruise, who was personally on hand to watch his style-impaired wife do her thing.

Suri Cruise makes her first Scientology pitch ...

He's a strange one, that Tom Cruise.

In never-before-seen footage posted Friday afternoon by Gawker online, Cruise reenacts an iconic scene from his 1983 hit Risky Business.

The undated video was taken at an extravagant, six-figure birthday bash thrown for Tom Cruise by the Church of Scientology.

Cameras show Cruise leaping out of the audience to sing and dance to "Old Time Rock and Roll." The husband of Katie Holmes (reportedly his fourth, but final option for the enviable job of wife) looks a bit manic in the process.

This is your brain on Scientology.

The father of adorable little Suri Cruise goes bonkers in the video would be an understatement akin to saying Britney Spears hates pants.

"Thank you!" he declares after his performance. "I don't know where I am... Thank you. This is the best birthday ever, ever, ever... and I mean EVER."

It must be seen to be fully appreciated.

Peep the video at The Gawker ...

Whether this story about TomKat is true or completely made up (Britney Spears getting pregnant by Adnan Ghalib-style), it's not any less funny.

Ex-Scientologist, Marc Headley, is the latest to claim Katie Holmes was Tom Cruise's fourth choice as his wife and mother of his child.

Before TomKat were created, Tom Cruise allegedly held a casting call for wives under the guise of a Mission: Impossible movie audition.

Headley says Tom told BFF and Scientology leader, David Miscavige, that he was having trouble finding babes, so the church sent out a casting call.

Scientologists Sofia Milos and Erika Christensen were apparently presented to him, but the discerning Cruise wanted bigger celebrities.

Tom Cruise shows off wife choice #4, Katie Holmes!

Headley said they went for Jennifer Garner, Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Alba, in that order... Jennifer and Jessica didn't accept this wonderful invite, but Scarlett Johansson took the bait and came in for an audition. Briefly.

When ScarJo arrived and found out it was the Scientology Center in Hollywood, of course, she freaked out and bolted without doing a tape.

Katie Holmes, it turns out was their fourth choice. Tom apparently said he knew she was the one right away when she showed up for her "audition."

Maybe he's a big Dawson's Creek fan. In any case, Katie was brainwashed ASAP, Suri Cruise was spawned a year later, and the rest is history.

Hey, John McCain was running fourth in some Republican polls in December, and the Giants' fourth receiver, David Tyree, became a Super Bowl hero as New York upset the evil Patriots of New England. So hold your head up high, Katie!

Some people just beg for nine-figure lawsuits.

New assertions that Tom Cruise has risen to the second-in-command of the Church of Scientology and that some believe Suri Cruise is the product of a sperm donation from Scientology's late founder L. Ron Hubbard are among the bizarre claims author Andrew Morton makes in "Tom Cruise, An Unauthorized Biography."

The book, set for publication in the U.S. on January 15, also claims Tom Cruise's next mission is to recruit David and Victoria Beckham into the church, and that the church threatened to blackmail Nicole Kidman by revealing graphic details of her sex life with Cruise if she spoke out about Scientology after their divorce.

According to the UK's Daily Mail, Morton says Cruise's staff is all scientologists vetted and hired by the church, and Scientology leader David Miscavige ordered staff to plant a field of wildflowers at a Scientology base after Cruise confided in him his fantasy to run through a field of flowers with Katie Holmes.

The new book also alleges that Scientology officials exert enormous influence over Tom Cruise's personal relationships and career decisions, and says that although it is not officially stated anywhere, Cruise is the de-facto second-in-command of the entire Church of Scientology, its #2 behind Miscavige.

But the most shocking claim in the book, according to the Daily Mail, is Morton's preposterous account of how little Suri Cruise, 20 months, was conceived.

Morton compares Suri Cruise's conception to the horror film Rosemary's Baby and claims that members of a "fanatical" sect of Scientologists known as "Sea Org." believe Katie Holmes was impregnated not by Cruise, but with a sperm donation from dead Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Tom Cruise's longtime attorney, the Hollywood power lawyer Bert Fields, has vehemently denied the book's claims, calling it a "pack of lies."

"It's a boring, poorly researched book by a man who never talked to anyone involved in Tom Cruise's life or anyone close to him," Fields said.

Morton is best known for his 1992 expose about Princess Diana. His bio of Cruise is not being published in the United Kingdom, interestingly, due in part to the U.K.'s libel laws, which are considered stricter than U.S. laws.

Suri Cruise is pumped up.

Look at her arms raised triumphantly on the latest cover of Us Weekly. What does she have to be happy about? The fact that her parents actually keep her shielded from the press a lot of the time (unlike, say, Jayden James)?

Well, there's no question that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' adorable little daughter leads a charmed existence. But just how big a role does TomKat's controversial religion play in the life of Suri Cruise on a daily basis?

Suri Cruise - who was fed a mixture of barley water, milk and corn syrup instead of formula and breast milk - is too young for classes at the Scientology Centre, but the 18-month-old is constantly surrounded by believers, including her nannies.

Additionally, Katie Holmes, 29, and Tom Cruise, 45, reportedly have a hard time saying no to little Suri Cruise. But it's not simply because they're pushovers.

"It's all about being positive and supportive," says a friend. Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard advises parents to "try to be a child's friend." As for discipline, one former member tells Us that Scientologists do not scold their children, but rather explain that bad behavior is the "wrong action."

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, says their pal, are lenient and do not like to give Suri Cruise too many rules: "Suri pretty much does whatever she wants, whenever she wants. If she fusses before bed, they let her stay up later. If they want her to go swimming and she cries, they take her out. If she whines about food, they'll ask what else she wants to eat. They always want to please her."

In other words, they're pretty standard parents. Who would have guessed.