- In a scathing letter, former Scientologist Leah Remini called Tom Cruise's leaked COVID-19 outburst to "Mission: Impossible 7" staff "psychotic" and posited that it was done for publicity.
- "Tom does not care about the families of his crew; this is all for publicity," Remini claimed. "Tom does not believe in family values."
- Remini was a member of the Church of
Scientology from the ages of 9 to 43, quitting in 2013, and went on to win three Emmys for her documentary series about the religion. - In her letter, Remini called Cruise an "abusive dictator" and wrote in part: "I would bet that Tom had this rant written for him."
- In a statement given to The Wrap, The Church of Scientology said in part, "Remini is an unreliable source who attacks Scientology for publicity and money – as she herself has admitted."
Former Scientologist Leah Remini has called Tom Cruise's expletive-filled COVID-19 outburst on the set of "Mission: Impossible 7" "psychotic," describing it as a publicity stunt.
Remini, who won an Emmy for her documentary series "Scientology and the Aftermath," wrote a letter published by the blog The Underground Bunker in which she called Cruise "an abusive dictator."
"Tom does not care about the families of his crew; this is all for publicity. Tom does not believe in family values," Remini wrote in the lengthy letter, which she retweeted.
"Hearing a rich actor with enormous power address his crew in this way is a sign of weakness and a deeply troubled person," she continued in the letter.
"This is not just a rant of another a--hole actor.
Insider has reached out to representatives for Cruise and The Church of Scientology for comment.
Still, in a statement given to The Wrap, who also reported on Remini's letter, The Church of Scientology said it "has done more than any other religious institution in promoting
Their statement continued: "Remini is an unreliable source who attacks Scientology for publicity and money - as she herself has admitted."
The leaked audio recording, released earlier this month, is said to have come after he spotted employees on a film set in England standing too close together in violation of coronavirus guidelines. Cruise repeatedly threatened to have the employees fired, saying: "I'm on the phone with every f---ing studio at night, insurance companies, producers, and they're looking at us and using us to make their movies. We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherf---ers."
The actor's response split fans, with some commending Cruise for taking the virus so seriously and others lambasting the way he addressed his colleagues.
Remini, however, speculated that Cruise was not being genuine and thought of himself as a "godlike" figure without whom Hollywood could not operate.
"The reality is, anyone who is working in Hollywood today is working under strict COVID guidelines," Remini wrote, according to the blog. "Anyone who is working knows this. Tom Cruise is not dictating how films are being made, even if he seems to think so."
"This psychotic rant only proves what many who know Tom or have worked for Tom knows: He is an abusive dictator...," Remini wrote in part.
—Leah Remini (@LeahRemini) December 16, 2020
It's not the first time Remini has targeted Cruise over his beliefs. During a Reddit AMA in 2017, Remini was asked whether Cruise was a nice guy, to which she responded flatly: "No!"
She added: "There is a public persona of the guy who looks at you directly in the eye and shakes your hand and hugs you and is an attentive person to you and there's the person behind the mask who is a completely different person."
"Someone could say we all have that - what we are to the public and who we are behind the scenes, but the people who are around Tom and work for Tom, not even people who are Scientologists, they will say he is diabolical," she said.
Remini wrote a best-selling memoir in 2015 titled "Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology," which shone a light on her ordeal with the church. She then went on to investigate the church further through the lens of her own experiences in the documentary series, "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath," which ran from 2016 to 2019. Remini won three Emmy awards for the show.
Cruise first became involved with Scientology in 1990, at age 28, through his first wife, Mimi Rogers. He has been a member of the church ever since.
- Read more:
- George Clooney says Tom Cruise 'didn't overreact' in his COVID-19 rant to 'Mission: Impossible' staff
- 5 'Mission: Impossible 7' crew members quit after Tom Cruise's explicit COVID-19 rant, report says
- Fans are divided in praise and scorn after listening to Tom Cruise's raging COVID-19 rant at staff