Tom Cruise Under Attack; “Jack Reacher” Falls at Box Office

Ton Cruise is having a bad, bad Sunday. He’s on the cover of both the New York Post and the New York Daily News– and it’s not for his current movie, “Jack Reacher.” Both papers are part of an organized publicity campaign surrounding a new book by Lawrence Wright about Scientology.

The book, called “Going Clear,” will be published later this week in the United States although publishers in several countries–starting with the United Kingdom–have cancelled it possibly because of legal fears or intimidation.

Reading reports of “Going Clear” today, I’m surprised that much of the Cruise information comes from other places–like from this column or from Maureen Orth’s groundbreaking story months ago in Vanity Fair about a young actress whom Scientology tried to match-make with Cruise.

Both papers detail the audition process in 2005 for new wives that led Katie Holmes to become the third Mrs. Cruise. I published numerous exclusive stories about all that in 2005, about Holmes’s “abduction” by Cruise, her cutting all ties to family and friends, and subsequent close monitoring by Scientology lackeys. Since the Wright book’s publisher, Knopf, refused to send me a copy of the book last week, and Wright wouldn’t talk to me, I have no idea about attributions. We’ll have to wait until the book actually comes out.

With Holmes “freed” and Cruise keeping a low profile, the timing of “Going Clear” is unfortunate. His movie “Jack Reacher” took a tumble this weekend, although it’s still made $72 million domestically. Frankly, he’s not bothering anyone. But his behavior over the last decade dogs him nonetheless.