After an ex-Scientology officer made some scathing accusations against the infamous church in his new book, many people are asking: Why did Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman file for divorce? The book A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology by Mike Rinder revealed the church’s true intentions for the Eyes Wide Shut stars’ relationship.
During the filming of Eyes Wide Shut, Rinder claims Tom ignored Scientology leader David Miscavige’s calls. According to this new book, the leader called for Marty Rathbun to audit Tom, which was a process through which the subject is walked through events in their life to relieve negativity and reach a level of “clear.” By then, Rinder writes Tom “was gradually drawn back into the world of Scientology” but caused a strain in his relationship with Nicole Kidman, which allegedly “created a distance between [Tom] and Nicole.”
However, the Church is said to have felt more threatened by the Moulin Rouge! star. According to Rinder, Nicole “never expressed particular eagerness for her Scientology courses or auditing.” He wrote that her father was a psychiatrist and the Church disavows psychiatry because it delivers improper care and an over-reliance on psychiatric drugs. “Had she not been Mrs. Tom Cruise, she would not have been eligible to participate in OT levels at all due to her familial connection to psychiatry.”
The author also claimed that the Church wire-tapped into Nicole’s phone. “Rathbun worked with [Hollywood lawyer] Bert Fields to hire infamous PI Anthony Pellicano to spy on Nicole and tap her phone,” Rinder wrote. However, the Church of Scientology denied these claims, “The Church never ordered or participated in any illegal wiretapping,” a church spokesperson told Page Six. “Mike Rinder is an inveterate liar who seeks to profit from his dishonesty. He supports himself by orchestrating the harassment of his former Church and its leader through false police reports, incendiary propaganda and fraudulent media stories.”
Tom and Nicole met on the set of their 1990 movie, Days of Thunder. Within six months of the film’s release, the pair were married and began trying for kids. At the age of 23, Kidman suffered an ectopic pregnancy, which occurs when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside of the uterus. After the heartbreaking experience of losing her first child, Kidman and Cruise decided to adopt two children: a daughter, Isabella, and son, Connor.
The pair continued to raise their children together throughout their decade-long marriage, which ultimately ended in 2001 after Kidman lost another child due to a miscarriage. “When Tom and Nicole divorced, Miscavige was happy that the ‘negative influence’ of Nicole was no longer dragging Tom away,” Rinder contends. “Cruise thereafter became more fervent in his vocal public support of Scientology and Miscavige.”
The book also claimed that Rathbun turned their children into believing that Nicole was a “SP” or “suppressive person”—a designation held for people who church members must avoid contact with at all costs. Actress and former Scientologist Leah Remini briefly touched on Kidman’s estranged relationship with her kids in her 2016 book, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology
, revealing that Kidman’s daughter once described her mother to her as a “f*cking SP” in 2006. When Remini asked her if she had seen or spoken to her mother recently, Isabella replied, “Not if I have a choice.”
Image: Simon & Schuster
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