« Reese Laughs It Up | Main | Jessica Simpson: (Physically) Abused?!? »
Scientology On Trial!
Posted on Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:51 AM PDT
Archive photo
Has Tom Cruise's faith gotten him in trouble?
The Daily News reports that Peter Letterese, a former Scientologist who's become one of the religion's harshest critics, has filed a $250 million suit against the Church of Scientology - and the actor's name is among those singled out by the suit!
Letterese claims that members of the Church harrassed him after he became disillusioned. According to his allegations, the harassment's even spread to his legal team - Letterese claims a church member called up the wife of one of his lawyers claiming to be her husband's homosexual lover!
Letterese also charges the Church with reproducing published material to which he owns the copyright. Years ago, Letterese bought the rights to the book "Effective Sales Closing Techniques" - a business book used as a core Scientology text - from the author Leslie Dane's widow. He claims that the Church's continued use of the book constitutes a violation of his intellectual property rights.
Letterese characterizes the Church as a "crime syndicate" and wants to see the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statutes employed to break it up.
So how does any of this relate to Tom? Well, technically it doesn't - but that hasn't stopped Letterese from including Cruise's name in his suit as many times as he could manage!
Letterese calls Cruise the "right-hand man" to David Miscavige, the Church's head, and alleges that the star raises funds "in the multiple tens of millions of dollars" while elevating the profile of Scientology both at home and abroad.
Scientologists are predictably livid over these charges. Official Church spokeswoman Karin Pouw described Letterese's suit as "frivolous" and "based on falsehoods" to the Daily News and pointed out that the courts affirmed that the Church's exploitation of Dane's book fell squarely under fair use statutes earlier this month.
This one's gonna get ugly - and we can't wait to see watch it go down!
We'll keep you posted!
Tom Cruise Hires Guns N' Roses Vocal Coach To Prepare For Role In Rock Of Ages - Apr 14, 2011
Tom Cruise Treats Suri To Dylan's Candy Bar In NYC - Apr 14, 2011
Tom Cruise And Church Of Scientology Reportedly Under FBI Investigation Over Slave Labor Practices - Feb 09, 2011
EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS - Tom Cruise And Son Connor Dine Out At CUT - Jan 16, 2011
Tom Cruise Spokesperson On Oscar Boycott Due To Anne Hathaway's SNL Skit: "Not True" - Jan 11, 2011
Comments
I think Tommy boy is gonna get out of this one.The dude seems to have copy and pasted his fictional role in the church right out of that unnoffical biography. I think religion is very complicated and I hope people make peace.
OMG, he looks so handsome. Just saw his profile on millionaire dating site """"C e l e b M i n g l e .c o m"""" " last week. I am wondering what kind of relationship he is looking for on that site. Is he single now? Just curious!
Bwaaaaahahahahahaha!
Tom is a tool!!
Run Katie run... Take Suri and run!!
btw katie it is time to loose the bottle for Suri..
Send all the scientology cult loons to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sexy, sexy, sexy, I can tell his clothes is designer because it looks so sharp.
who photoshopped the hair on him?
tom is crazy, and so r all those scientology nutjobs!!!! send them to an island somewhere where they cant suck anymore weak-minded people into their cult!
break CO$ wide open, NO LUBE!
FINALLY. I hope it sticks. And if it doesn't stick in this lawsuit, I hope the hundreds of other disillusioned, abused ex-Scientologists get their lawsuits to stick and take this cult down! And if Tom Cruise goes with it, well, maybe he shouldn't have been the poster boy for a dangerous cult.
I hope Tom Cruise gets it. His career is over. He totally turns people off by forcing his religion down our throats. He is going to have a hard knock life from now on. No more big paycheck.
this church is FREAKY.. if you can call them a church... more like a cult. im so glad this guy is suing the CRAP outta them!! i just hope they dont kill him! BRING THESE SCIENTOLOGISTS DOWN! ive quit on cruise since he's gotten into this. its too nuts!
Hope its the beginning of the end of this "church" !!!!!!!!!!!
can anyone say AMERICAN PSYCHO!!! oh my god! just look at him! he screams control freak! i wouldnt be surprised if katie cries herself to sleep everynight..no one likes u anymore tom, u r not relatable to anyone, u and ur cult of freaks can go live in the middle of the woods now! betch!
Is he wearing a rug on his noggin?
hee hee
I've been through all the $cientology crap and it is definitely a crime syndicate. Anyone who wants to destroy themselves, physically, mentally, and financialy, should join this cult!
I hope they nail that a-hole Tom!
EMO CRUISE
Totally a cult! I and my colloge roommate were both stalked and harrassed once we left. AND we were SO low level, barely into it!! I can imagine what they do to the higher ups!