Tom Cruise Had Spielberg's Family Doctor Picketed By Scientologists

Deep in the December issue of Vanity Fair is an interesting throw-away line about Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg. Bryan Burrough wrote a lengthy article called:

Showdown at Fort Sumner
Two years after Paramount purchased DreamWorks, Hollywood is transfixed by one of the nastiest breakups ever. As Sumner Redstone and David Geffen went to war (over Steven Spielberg?), the author got it from both sides.

The article is online, and on page 3 of the online copy, at the end of a paragraph on Tom Cruise being "fired" by Redstone, is this:

Spielberg felt the actor's antics had hurt his own movie, 2005's War of the Worlds. Far worse, though, had been an episode when Spielberg told Cruise the name of a doctor who had prescribed medication to a relative and the doctor's office was subsequently picketed by Scientologists.

The Cruise dismissal, however, was nothing compared to the sudden firing of Freston as Viacom's C.E.O., two weeks later....

Vanity Fair has stringent fact checkers. To repeat "when Spielberg told Cruise the name of a doctor who had prescribed medication to a relative and the doctor's office was subsequently picketed by Scientologists."

The sentence begs the question, what kind of doctor and medication? Could it be psychiatric? Cruise and Scientology have a well-documented opposition to psychiatry, and now it seems Spielberg has a documented dislike of Cruise.

Comments

[godlessclif]

Please folks...do­n't just dismiss the life changing affects that drugs like seroquel can have without taking into account the millions of American with mental illness. Those dismissals lend into the culture of thought that somehow we can just "snap out of it" or that "we're just being dramatic." That's not helpful.

With Seroquel you won't even know they are in the room. They won't talk; they won't move.
They won't jump on couches.

[CologneCitizen]

In Germany scientologists recruit members on the street. They talk them into buying courses, and once they are hooked it is obviously very hard to get out. Our government does not give them the status of a religion because that would give them an enormous tax break. Naturally Scientology is pissed as there is no real growth for them over here. Cruise and Travolta are seen as wealthy nuts in a pool with many poor nuts. All in all we couldn't care less, still I think it's good to watch groups that obviously screw with peoples minds.

[ilovedessert]

NO surprise here, AFTER ALL TOM IS AN OVER PAID HACK. HE DUMPED HIS LAST WIFE, AS HE DID NOT WANT TO SHARE HIS WEALTH 50/50, WHICH IS WAHT HAPPENS AFTER 10 YEARS OF MARRIAGE IN CALIF. (HE DUMPED HER JUST B4 THE 10 YEAR MARK).

THIS WIFE, IS AN ROBOT, SHE IS NOT ALLOWED A THOUGHT OTHER THAN HIS! WHAT A JERK.

[ceasenake]

"Lions for Lambs" did horrible box office, but not as bad as "Redacted.­"

[mamacat]

Sad, very sad.

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

Cruise is a major fool for taking the side of Scientology over Spielberg. What an ass. Spielberg is, obviously, one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, and some of his films are damn good too.

I'd cut Tom loose, too, Steven. Right on, Mr. Spielberg.­..

[Trittydi]

Cruise is a badly-behaved child.

He needs someone to tell him NO, give him a spanking and send him to his room.
*

[USMC1980]

I am all for freedom of religion, and personally I don't have any views about Scientology one way or the other....b­ut stabbing your friend in the back by having his personal doctor's home "picketed" is just a fucking disgrace. WTF happened to Tom Cruise, he used to be a decent guy, now he never misses an opportunity to ba an asshole.

Good for Speilberg kicking this guy to the curb.

[Mister Ruben]

So???

[tonybar]

For all your questions on Scientology, read the Los Angeles Times series that appeared in the 1990's. As a religion, it is, and always will be weird science fiction. When they actually start trying to save the world is they get into trouble. The whole thing sounds like a Broadway musical, staring Travolta and Cruise. It's almost campy now.

[drblack]

I will never watch a Tom Cruise film again because scientology is as dangerous as christian fundamentalism .
Religious extremism by christians and scientologists is more of a threat to American Freedom than foreign religious extremists.
L Ron Hubbard was very interested in mind control. he wrote a short story about a guy who got rich and powerful by starting a religion.
The scientologists have made sure that story is out of circulation.
Notice that scientology only got crazy after hubbards death because hwe didn't want to mess with the minds of any but the most impressionable.
tom Cruise and scientology are rubbish.
Science not sciento;ogy.

[Libsrule]

I've always tried to seperate the artist from his personal craziness.

I still like to watch some of the old movies with Charleton Heston even though he is a righwing gun nut.

Same with several movie actors. The last Cruise movie was actually very good. Irrespective of his personal wierdness and he IS wierd, the movie was pretty good. I can only imagine he rubber the other stars the wrong and did it very badly for them to dis him so publicly.

Nonetheless the movie was good.

Tom's biggest problem besides belonging to the cult of Scamology is he has become such a vocal proponent, much like Robertson or others of that ilk.

If he just shut the fuck up and did his movies without trying to convert everyone around him to Scamology he'd probably have better public relations.

[realnoia]

The fact is that a large number of actualization
movements borrowed from Scientology throughout
the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. They made Scientology a religion for tax purposes.
Hubbard was not a stupid man. He made sure
that if you paid for enough courses you
would get something back. He made it so
that people would keep coming back...and
they did. I wasn't one of them but I was
reading today about the number of people
who got rich stealing Elrods stuff.

[DuckofDeath]

I once gave Xenu some money for a dime bag once...got oregano instead. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice...ca­n't fool me again.

[MrsBettyBowers]

How sadly ironic that one of America's public figures most in need of psychiatric help -- a certain pocket-size Scientology robot who left some essential working parts back in the closet -- has gone on record as being so stridently (indeed, shrilly) against what he needs most.

Well, other than a burly wrestler in an easily-shed singlet . . .