He’s the glossy Hollywood star who is indisputably one of the Church Of Scientology’s most prized catches.
But behind the polished veneer that Tom Cruise presents to the world is a troubled man with an explosive temper – at least if Leah Remini is to be believed.
New snippets taken from the former Scientologist’s soon-to-be released tell-all book reveal the epic tantrums and secret feuds that she claims those close to the actor must endure.
Tantrums and feuds: Leah Remini has lifted the lid on the explosive temper of Tom Cruise, seen here in September, writing in her soon-to-be released book of his epic meltdowns
Once part of Cruise’s inner circle, Remini claims to have personally witnessed shocking episodes in which the Mission: Impossible star lost his temper for the most banal of reasons.
On one occasion, she writes in an excerpt published on RadarOnline.com, Cruise flipped when handed a mug of tea with a chip in the rim by his assistant.
‘You served me tea in a chipped mug?’ she claims he ranted. ‘Do you know who gets served with a mug that’s chipped? F***ing DBs.’
DB is Scientology shorthand for the derogatory term Degraded Being, which refers to someone who is so infested with Body Thetans, or evil spirits, that they are in-auditable.
Pleased to see you? Cruise chats to John Travolta in 2005; however according to Remini, the Mission: Impossible star does not like his fellow Scientologist
Remini claims to have witnessed another angry outburst when Cruise berated a female assistant who she says he wrongly thought hadn’t correctly prepared cookie dough for him to bake with friends.
‘Get in the f***ing present time, is what you need to do!’ she claims he screamed.
‘It was horrible to watch someone I admired come undone, and even worse to witness the fear in the assistant’s eyes,’ writes Remini.
The actress also shed light on the relationship between Cruise and fellow Scientologists John Travolta and Kirstie Alley.
And while it might be expected that the stars would be close friends, Remini reveals that they in fact do not socialise.
‘I had heard that Tom didn’t like them,’ the 45-year-old actress writes.
Who remembers this? Cruise’s undeniably unusual behaviour has sometimes spilled into the public eye – such as the infamous occasion in 2005 when he told Oprah Winfrey of his romance with Katie Holmes
‘I’m in love!’ Tom’s childish behaviour was not a one off, according to Leah Remini
Cruise’s undeniably unusual behaviour has sometimes spilled into the public eye – such as the infamous occasion in 2005 when he jumped up and down on Oprah Winfrey’s couch when talking about his then new relationship with Katie Holmes.
And the childishness apparently did not end there. Remini writes of nights spent playing hide and seek in the star’s sprawling Los Angeles mansion with a group including Jada Pinkett Smith, who is not a Scientologist.
‘His behaviour reflected badly on Scientology and me,’ she adds, also comparing the Church Of Scientology to the Wizard Of Oz.
‘I had seen behind the curtain. There, in the role of the great and powerful Oz, was not [founder L. Ron Hubbard], as I had come to believe, but instead, it seemed to be Tom Cruise.
Remini also gives further details of Cruise’s brief fling with Homeland actress Nazanin Boniadi – saying he did not personally inform her of his decision to end their relationship.
Well done: Cruise thanks Travolta as he presents him with the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a comedy for Jerry Maguire back in 1997
She wrote: ‘Naz had been manipulated and lied to, all in an effort to keep Tom Cruise happy. For him to have dismissed her without saying goodbye or speaking directly to her seemed beyond cruel.’
Boniadi and her family later left the church – something Remini claims was in response to her treatment by Cruise.
Vanity Fair magazine’s special correspondent Maureen Orth previously detailed how the British-Iranian starlet was groomed for a relationship with the older Cruise by church officials, after being told to dump her boyfriend because she had been selected for a special project that would help further her religion.
Close:Cruise chats to Scientology leader David Miscavige back in 2013 as Jerry Bruckheimer is honoured on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame
Allegedly, top Scientology official Greg Wilhere told the actress to darken her hair, remove her orthodontic braces and that she break up with her long term boyfriend, who was also part of the controversial religion and with whom she was reportedly deeply in love.
When she refused to do that, Wilhere allegedly showed Boniadi evidence that her boyfriend had cheated on her and that led her to break up their relationship according to Vanity Fair.
Since leaving the church in 2013, Remini has become an outspoken critic of the religion, and much of her new autobiography, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, is dedicated to her years in the church.
‘Manipulated’: Remini also gives further details of Cruise’s brief fling with Homeland actress Nazanin Boniadi – saying he did not personally inform her of his decision to end their relationship
The former King Of Queens star and her family currently have their own TLC reality show, Leah Remini: It’s All Relative.
‘Leah Remini knows the truth she conveniently rewrites in her revisionist history,’ wrote the Church in a statement.
‘The real story is that she desperately tried to remain a Scientologist in 2013, knowing full well she was on the verge of being expelled for refusing to abide by the high level of ethics and decency Scientologists are expected to maintain.
‘Her repeated ethical lapses and callous treatment of others led to an ecclesiastical review which resulted in her being expelled.
‘She now regurgitates the tired myths the Church has repeatedly debunked, circulated by the same tiny clique of expelled former staffers bitter at having lost the positions they enjoyed before their malfeasance and unethical conduct were uncovered.
Former friends: Remini embraces Cruise in 2004 at the premiere of Collateral in Los Angeles; once part of his inner circle, she is now opening up about his behaviour behind closed doors
Tell-all: Since leaving the church in 2013, Remini has become an outspoken critic of the religion, and much of her new autobiography, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, is dedicated to her years in the church; she is seen on last week’s 20/20
‘Ms Remini is now joined at the hip with this collection of deadbeats, admitted liars, self-admitted perjurers, wife beaters and worse.’
Remini was not surprised by this, admitting that she was a flawed person before her interview began, saying she knew that the Church would come out attacking her.
‘I know what my former Church – how they deal with people who tell their story,’ Remini said on 20/20 last week.
‘And so I wanted to be the one to say it.’
