While celebrities from Whoopi Goldberg to George Clooney have defended Tom Cruise’s infamous rant about COVID-19 protocols on set, actress and famed Scientologist defector Leah Remini says they have all been duped by a publicity stunt.
In a post last week on the anti-Scientology blog The Underground Bunker, Remini called Cruise’s tirade a “psychotic rant” from an “abusive person.”
“Tom does not care about the families of his crew; this is all for publicity,” Remini wrote. “Tom does not believe in family values. I mean, how anyone is falling for this is just mind-blowing. I would bet that Tom had this rant written for him and had his Scientology assistant record and release it. Hearing a rich actor with enormous power address his crew in this way is a sign of weakness and a deeply troubled person.”
“Tom seems to think that Hollywood is incapable of making films without his help. Saying such a thing indicates the godlike figure Tom believes he is, and what he is told by Scientology,” Remini continued. “The reality is, anyone who is working in Hollywood today is working under strict COVID guidelines. Anyone who is working knows this. Tom Cruise is not dictating how films are being made, even if he seems to think so.”
Remini even asserted that the rant showed the true Tom Cruise.
“He is an abusive person. I witnessed it, I’ve been a recipient of it on a small level, and I’ve been told of similar abuse by his former girlfriend, his employees, and his friends,” Remini wrote. “This is the real Tom.”
“This is not just a guy in the middle of a public place standing up to someone for not wearing a mask. This is Tom friggin’ Cruise wielding his power and threatening and degrading his crew,” she later noted.
In response to Remini’s claims, the Church of Scientology told The Wrap that she is an “unreliable source” and that the church has taken action to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“The Church of Scientology has done more than any other religious institution in promoting COVID-19 prevention actions ― throughout the U.S. and worldwide. Long before ‘stay at home’ directives, the Church took aggressive actions to prevent the spread of the virus,” it read. “The Church’s leader acted well ahead of the curve. Remini is an unreliable source who attacks Scientology for publicity and money ― as she herself has admitted.”
During his infamous rant that quickly went viral, Tom Cruise scolded his crew for allegedly breaking on-set protocol and characterized himself as some kind of film industry savior.
“They’re back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherf****rs,” he shouted. “That’s it. No apologies. You can tell it to the people that are losing their f***ing homes because our industry is shut down. “
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