Friday, October 4, 2024

Mariah Carey Engagement to James Packer 86d by (Maybe Former) Scientology Celebrity Wrangler

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In the end, Mariah Carey was not going to be a Scientologist. But her engagement to billionaire James Packer seems to have hinged on getting along with Packer’s right hand man, Tommy Davis, whom he hired earlier this year.

Many people, including TMZ, think Davis, the son of actress Anne Archer, is out of Scientology. But that’s inherently ridiculous. His mother and stepfather, Terry Jastrow, are embedded in the cult. His wife, Jessica Feshbach, comes from a family that’s donated millions to the cause of L. Ron Hubbard.

A few years ago, Davis was demoted by Scientology’s Napoleon, David Miscavige, and sent into the woods, so to speak. But this year, Davis re-emerged as Packer’s lackey, indicating that Packer was still connected to the group of nuts depicted in “Going Clear.” The conventional wisdom is that Miscavige sent Davis on a mission to make sure that Packer and his money wouldn’t be lost to Scientology by marrying Carey.

Now TMZ is saying that Davis clamped down on Packer’s spending regarding Carey, which may be correct. No one knows how to waste money like Mariah Carey. Still, the constant barrage of anti-Carey publicity that’s suddenly emerged has all the earmarks of a Scientology campaign. In the end, Mariah should be grateful she’s out of this mess.

It is kind of laughable to think that Mariah is ‘demanding’ $50 million from Packer for anything. I rather doubt it. Mariah has lots of money. If she wanted to stay in California, she’d buy a house. My guess is, she’ll return to New York. She’s a New Yorker through and through.

Also, Mariah and Packer still share a mutual friend in movie director Brett Ratner. Ratner, Packer, and Trump finance chair Steven Mnuchin run RatPac, a film financier that is underwriting a lot of Warner Bros. movies. Ratner has probably refereed an ending to this romance gone bad that doesn’t include payouts.

But Davis’s involvement with Packer should be more worrisome to those around him than anything to do with Carey.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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