Saturday, July 4, 2026

Barbara Walters Defends Scientology, Maybe Hoping to Get Tom Cruise Interview

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Okay, I love old people. But maybe it’s time for Barbara Walters to wrap it up. Why wait til next May? She defended Scientology’s educational system on The View today. Sherri Shepherd jumps right in, and Barbara continues. Why? Radaronline.com, which picked this up originally, surmises Barbara is trying to get some kind of interview with Tom Cruise. If she really sticks to this, Walters is having her own Nixonian meltdown. When Shepherd says “Didn’t we have someone on who said she [had a bad time with with Scientology] Walters responds, “I’m not talking about that aspect of Scientology.” No, she’s only interested in the aspect that deals with celebrity interviews. Radar got Jenna Mascavige Hill to criticize Walter’s stand. www.radaronline.com. Frankly, I’m horrified. But this Walters showing her truest self. Watch the clip. Shepherd is very deft when dealing with this ancient mariner.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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