Tom Cruise’s Verbal Assault is Not OK

Marc Headley’s book “Blown for Good-Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology” is an absolute must read for any Never In wanting a look at the reality of of Sea Org life. It is a fascinating account of Headley’s fifteen years trying to navigate the chaos, drama and narcissistic control of David Miscavige.

One of the things that stand out about the man Scientologists call COB, Chairman of the Board, is Miscavige’s violent, abusive way of confronting those under him.

According to Headley, Miscavige would have the group he wanted to dress down gather, then proceed to shout, belittle and mock them with a profanity laden diatribe.

After a torrential rainstorm that caused a mudslide at Gold Base near Hemet, California Miscavige screamed at the exhausted, mud covered Sea Org, “It was so intense and loud that two crew members standing in line fainted while he was screaming. They literally fell over while standing there, passing out as they hit the floor.”

During these tirades, COB would scream that he was the only one who could actually do the job right, though Marc explains that everything Miscavige touched turned to chaos.

Miscavige demands impossible perfection because of conceit and the false idea that he, and thus Scientology, is the only one making life on this planet possible. It is the cult’s belief that only they are capable of paving the way for everyone else. At the very least, everything Scientology rises and falls because of David Miscavige who is the only one capable.

Everything rides on Miscavige’s shoulders.

Miscavige is not the first to employ violent temper tantrums against those around him. Founder L. Ron Hubbard also displayed this same lack of communication skills and was known to yell and scream as well.

In spite of Scientology’s claim of being superior communicators capable of handling anything thrown at them with aplomb, the cult’s leaders are modeling a much different reality.

So it is that recent media accounts have Tom Cruise displaying the same abusive, profanity laced communication pattern and the same misplaced, overdramatized sense of importance.

Whether one is pro or anti mask during this pandemic is not the issue and according to one article it wasn’t the lack of a mask, but of someone standing too close to another.

Tom Cruise, like Miscavige and Hubbard, showed his true character when he threw a furious fit and yelled at the people working with him on set of one of his movies.

Filled with F bombs and an overinflated sense of self importance, Cruise let loose on those around him in a way no employee should ever be subjected to.

“If I see you do it again you’re f****** gone,”

Movie sets are fluid places. People are all over the place in order to keep things running smoothly. Everyone is concentrating on the job at hand and the chance that anyone might forget to stay six feet away from his fellows is real.

Why did Cruise feel the need to resort to yelling and swearing rather than just making a calm, reasoned reminder to those around him?

Unlike people who make the conscious choice to go out without a mask, accidentally getting too close to someone else is a mistake, not a crime.

More importantly, was this really about the pandemic or something else entirely? Like Miscavige, Tom Cruise apparently has a hyperbolized idea of his self importance. If the rant being reported is even partially true it would seem that the Mission Impossible star believes that Hollywood’s very future rests solely upon his superior shoulders.

“We are the gold standard. They’re back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. Because they believe in us and what we’re doing. I’m on the phone with every f****** studio at night, insurance companies, producers…”

“We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherf*******. I don’t ever want to see it again. Ever!”

“That’s what I sleep with every night — the future of this f****** industry!”

To hear Tom Cruise tell it, he is COB of Hollywood and it’s continuation rests with him.

Cruise has received a great deal of support on social media for this verbal assault on his employees. People who are not familiar with the cult he holds so dear are applauding Cruise’s dedication to COVID-19 protocols in the name of safety.

What so many fail to realize is that while following safe guidelines to keep everyone healthy is definitely praiseworthy, this is the same man who publicly insulted Brooke Shields for taking medication to help her through Postpartum Depression. The same man who has not bothered to include his daughter, Suri, in his life though he makes sure to send cakes to friends each year.

Tom Cruise is The Face of Scientology. He supports and endorses a cult that just took millions in PPP money while small businesses must close their doors forever.

Scientology commits rampant, virulent abuse against its members including human rights abuses, financial fraud, child abuse and medical fraud.

Cruise’s fellow actor and Scientologist Danny Masterson’s accusers were stalked, terrorized and had their family pets mysteriously poisoned.

All this yet Tom Cruise claims that Scientology is the ONLY thing that can save the planet.

He loudly takes umbrage with someone not adhering to social distancing, yet is just as loudly silent in the face of policies of disconnection and fair game that have destroyed families and lives.

Cruise’s recent verbal abuse on set is not praiseworthy. No one should ever have to be subjected to this type of behavior in the workplace.

As he stood there yelling and swearing at those who were unable to yell back or defend themselves because of the imbalance of power, how did the recipients of his spleen feel?

Supporting anyone who would treat others to such a display is outrageous. Who would meekly accept being spoken to in such a way by their employer?

This is abuse.

Being publicly shamed, sworn at and threatened is abuse.

Yes, all should be vigilant in keeping to health protocols and everyone knows the feeling of being frustrated, even angry, when a selfish person is acting recklessly.

Does it justify Cruise’s behavior?

No.

The fact is, Tom Cruise could just as easily taken the person aside and talked civilly to them. He could just as easily have addressed the group in a reasonable, friendly manner. There was absolutely no reason for him to yell, swear and threaten anyone.

Rather than look at this event as a good thing, better to see it as yet another example of Scientology’s teachings, of the kind of person Hubbard’s tech creates.

Hollywood does not live or die by Tom Cruise’s hands. He is not responsible for setting the bar that all of the film industry seeks to match.

Across this country people struggle because of this pandemic. Jobs have been lost, wages cut, rent and mortgages go unpaid. Cruise shouts that his creation sets the gold standard, that people believe in him, that he carries the weight of Hollywood upon him as he goes to sleep every night.

Yet Scientology has taken millions of loans meant to help struggling people.

Miscavige still expects his followers to open their wallets and produce “donations” for all the cult’s goods and services. Long before COVID-19 ever appeared there were Scientologists drowning in debt and penury.

Where is Tom Cruise’s righteous bellowing for all of the abuse and destruction of Scientology?