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ABC NIGHTLINE: INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY -- ILLUSTRATED INTERVIEW |
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[Martin Bashir] Marty Rathbun left the Church in 2004 after 27 years.
He was a top lieutenant to David Miscavige. Q. Did you audit Tom Cruise? [Marty Rathbun] Yeah. Extensively.
[Martin Bashir] So they were given what? A celebrity environment? Pampering?
[Marty Rathbun] You got it. You got it. [Martin Bashir] And who was doing that? [Marty Rathbun] Miscavige, man! I mean, that was his thing is all about image. He was flying across the country in Tom Cruise's jet.
It's all about living the high life, and being a powerful guy who is looked up to by the rich and famous.
[Martin Bashir] Tommy Davis says the Church does not indulge or pamper celebrities.
[Tom Cruise] Here's the problem. You don't know the history of psychiatry. I do. [Martin Bashir] In recent years, Tom Cruise has been more confident about publically asserting Scientology principles, particularly its rejection of psychiatric medicine.
[Today Show Matt Lauer] But that's what she went on the anti-depressant for. [Tom Cruise] But what happens with the anti-depressant, all it does is mask the problem. There's ways of vitamins, and through exercise, and various things. I'm not saying that that isn't real.
[Martin Bashir] Rathbun says the Tom Cruise he now sees on TV is not the Tom Cruise he once knew.
[Marty Rathbun] And she watched him on Matt Lauer. And I go, "That ain't Tom Cruise! That's David Miscavige! That's not the Tom Cruise I knew two years ago!"
[Martin Bashir] You're referring to the moment when he attacked Brooke Shields for suffering post-natal depression and --
[Marty Rathbun] Attacked Matt Lauer! I mean, he is talking to Matt Lauer like David Miscavige talks to his staff. "You're glib, man! You don't get it! You don't understand!"
[Matt Lauer] Aren't there examples where it works?
[Tom Cruise] Matt, Matt, Matt! You're glib! You don't even know what ritalin is.
[Martin Bashir] Do you support what Tom Cruise said on the Today show? [Tommy Davis] I support anybody who is going to be out there talking about the dangerous effects of drugs. [Martin Bashir] But with the greatest respect, Mr. Davis, Tom Cruise is an actor. He's not a medical academic. He's not a clinician. Do you really think he's qualified to denounce an entire field of medicine?
[Tommy Davis] Well, I think your comments right there are actually quite degrading of actors and artists. "What right do they have?" They have every right!
[Martin Bashir] Cruise is one of many celebrities who have joined the Church. In 1998, actors John Travolta and Kirstie Alley told ABC News how much Scientology has helped them.
[Kirstie Alley] The basic thing that I think Scientology helps people with is to rehabilitate their own spirit, their own nature, their own personality that was sort of buried or lost somewhere along the way.
[John Travolta] It's given me all aspects of life back to me where I can move through life confidently. I can move through life feeling fulfilled. I look forward to life every day.
[Martin Bashir] Recently, speculation has swirled about Travolta, who famously produced and starred in the film, "Battlefield Earth," based on a book by L. Ron Hubbard.
[John Travolta] Man is a primitive species. So I need something primitive for leverage. Like, food. Q. Did you audit John Travolta? [Marty Rathbun] Yes. [Martin Bashir] What sort of a man was he?
[Marty Rathbun] He's a wonderful man. He's a great guy. He's one of the most loving persons you ever want to meet. Sensitive. Caring.
[Martin Bashir] It was at the family's island retreat, that John Travolta's 16-year-old son, Jet --
who had autism --
died from a seizure in January.
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