Fair Game

by Steve Cannane

  When Kidman got Cruise to drift from Scientology, Doven’s role became even more important. He was ordered to report regularly about exactly what was happening inside their relationship. ‘Doven reported on every significant event in Cruise’s personal life directly to David Miscavige,’ says Rathbun, ‘right on down to arguments with his then-wife, Nicole, down to problems with his kids, down to every origination made by Tom in confidence to his personal assistant.’69 Former Scientology executive Claire Headley was exposed to the secret operation when she worked with Rathbun. ‘I was a party to the conversations that Doven was supposed to be, you know, feeding us information and getting Tom back on lines,’ she told journalist Tony Ortega.70

  It infuriated Miscavige that Kidman and Cruise had moved away from his orbit. The couple were shooting more films outside of the US and spending more time in Australia. In 1995, they bought a $4.2 million villa in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Darling Point.71

  The drift away from Scientology was not harming their careers. Kidman won a Golden Globe in 1995 for her role as a pathologically ambitious TV reporter in To Die For. In 1996, Cruise won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the hyperactive sports agent in Jerry Maguire. The same year he released the first of his blockbuster Mission Impossible series. It was his first film credit as a producer in own right. The film was a runaway success, grossing over US$450 million.72

  In 1996, Cruise made a one-off return to Scientology services. With Doven keeping communication lines open with Scientology, Cruise agreed to be audited by Marty Rathbun in Los Angeles.73 But according to Rathbun the session went nowhere and he did not return to Scientology services again that year. In the autumn Cruise and Kidman moved further away from Miscavige when they flew to London to begin work on Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut.74

  Kubrick was a notorious perfectionist and on Eyes Wide Shut it was 15 months before he yelled, ‘Cut!’ for the final time. The film broke a Guinness World Record for the longest continual film shoot. Kubrick wasn’t just driving the cast and crew mad, he helped to infuriate Scientology’s leader. ‘They were away for more than a year shooting Eyes Wide Shut in the UK,’ says Mike Rinder, ‘and Cruise was not in touch with Miscavige and this drove Miscavige crazy!’75

  While in London, Kidman was interviewed by Anne Summers for the Sydney Morning Herald. For the first time, Kidman publicly declared that she was no longer a Scientologist. She did not mention that her husband had also stopped receiving Scientology services. Anne Summers wrote about the parallels between Kidman and her mother and how she had temporarily embraced Catholicism:

  In the past, Kidman has said she is a Scientologist but now she seems to have left that behind her: ‘I wouldn’t classify myself as a Scientologist, but my husband is.’ She is, she says, her own woman: ‘I am who I am and I don’t credit anybody except my parents with helping me.’ Janelle Kidman observes that it’s a bit like when she first married Antony and tried to become a Catholic like him; she took it very seriously ‘in the first blush of everything’ but her heart was never in it. She’s now an agnostic.76

  The following year on Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio, Kidman was asked whether Scientology would help her if she were ever stranded on an island. ‘No,’ she responded. When pressed she admitted that it was ‘Catholicism which will keep me going. I’m a Catholic girl. It will always stay with you.’77 In March 1999, Kidman made similar comments to legendary New York gossip columnist Liz Smith. When asked if she was still a practising Scientologist, Kidman did not answer the question directly, but admitted she’d sought solace in St Patrick’s Cathedral following the death of Stanley Kubrick. ‘I suppose once a Catholic always a Catholic,’ she said.78

  With Kidman out in the open as an exScientologist, and Cruise out of the country and out of contact, Michael Doven continued to feed Miscavige inside information. ‘Doven is an unsung hero to David Miscavige and Scientology for keeping a lifeline to Tom,’ says Marty Rathbun. ‘There was never a period when he wasn’t reporting in – if things went dark for too long and we weren’t hearing anything, Doven would get hauled in and it was like “Hey, what’s going on man?”’79

  Michael Doven wasn’t just reporting in on Cruise and Kidman. He was a key part of the operation to get Cruise back in to Scientology. Two years after his one-off auditing session with Marty Rathbun, Cruise returned to be audited in October 1998. The sessions lasted a week and were done in secret in the Guaranty Building on Hollywood Boulevard, away from the scrutiny of the Celebrity Centre. Cruise entered via a private car park and a back door that led to a hallway in the basement. He then caught the lift up to level 11, where Miscavige and Rathbun both had their private offices.

  While Greg Wilhere’s attempt to undermine Cruise and Kidman’s relationship back in 1990 had failed, this time Miscavige was determined that the job would be done properly. Rathbun says the instructions to Doven were clear:

  Miscavige said Nicole was the problem and you want to reinforce that with Tom as subtly as you can without making it sound like you are trying to break them up. That’s how it started in ’98 and all the while from ’98 to 2000 I’m constantly being told to reinforce with Doven, who is reporting to me probably on a weekly basis on everything that is going on with Tom, to keep planting the seed to drive a wedge because she’s been determined by Miscavige to be what’s keeping Tom separated from Dave, keeping Tom separated from Scientology.80

  Miscavige was desperate for Cruise to return to Scientology. But it would take a few years before Michael Doven’s hard work paid off. In January 2001, Rathbun took a call from Cruise’s personal assistant. According to Rathbun, Doven relayed the message that Cruise needed help, that his life was a shambles, he needed auditing and he wanted a divorce.81 Rathbun swung into action. Part of his role was to facilitate the hiring of private investigators to spy on Kidman. ‘Tom wanted to know exactly who she was talking to, he wanted to tap her phone,’ Rathbun said in the film Going Clear. ‘When I reported that to David Miscavige I reported it like, “I mean he wants to tap her phone.” He said, “Goddamn it get it done!”’82

  Rathbun arranged through a Scientology lawyer to get a private investigator on the case to wiretap the phone in the couple’s mansion in Los Angeles. Kidman soon knew about it. The actress was already distraught about the prospect of a divorce, now she was dealing with the paranoia that comes with having private investigators monitoring your conversations. ‘She said I just know they are tapping my line,’ a former Kidman staffer told me. ‘I think what would happen is Tom would get the information and blast her. She’d be like, “How in the hell did he get that? He must be listening to my lines.”’83

  Kidman paid thousands of dollars to have surveillance experts come in and check her home for listening devices. But the private investigators hired at arm’s length by the Church of Scientology were able to avoid detection. ‘There was no bug in the house,’ says the former staffer. ‘The lines were being tapped at the main phone company. We found that out later.’84

  In that era, one prominent Hollywood private investigator successfully ran wiretaps through the local phone exchange. His name was Anthony Pellicano. In 2008, Pellicano was sentenced to 15 years in prison for illegal wiretapping and running a criminal enterprise. When the FBI raided his office, they found wiretap transcripts, hand grenades and military grade plastic explosives.85 Pellicano had successfully tapped lines of big-name Hollywood stars through the phone exchange, with Southwestern Bell telephone technician Ray Turner also doing time for his role in the private investigator’s illegal operations.

  Tom Cruise’s lawyer Bert Fields knew Pellicano well. A number of his clients used the private investigator, though Fields maintains he had no knowledge of Pellicano’s illegal activities. In 1992, Fields praised Pellicano’s ability to get results. ‘Time after time, Anthony comes up with the witness I’m looking for,’ he told a journalist. ‘He gets me results, so I stick with him.’86

&
nbsp; A former Kidman staffer told me he was sure Pellicano was involved in the operation to wiretap the actress. ‘I thought it was Pellicano the whole time,’ he said. ‘Bert Fields used Pellicano, so why wouldn’t he use him for Nicole?’87 The ex-staffer also recalls Kidman being interviewed by the FBI at the time of their Pellicano investigation: ‘Why would they ask to meet her unless Pellicano bugged her?’ he said.88 In 2006, Vanity Fair reported that sources had claimed FBI agents had also questioned Tom Cruise.89

  But Marty Rathbun maintains the Church of Scientology wanted nothing to do with Pellicano and that he intervened to make sure he wasn’t used.

  Bert Fields kept advising Tom to get Pellicano onto her. He never said to wiretap her. He said get Pellicano onto her and I kept telling Tom no, because I kept informed about what was going on in the investigative community and I knew this guy was bad news and had been subject to investigation over and over again. I actually had to go see Bert Fields to tell him that what we can do through our contacts we can do just as much as Pellicano and better and he finally backed off.90

  So did Bert Fields ignore Marty Rathbun’s advice and hire Pellicano? Or were there two operations? One with Pellicano, and one without? Was it possible that Pellicano was employed before the Scientology-sponsored operation and that he acquired information from earlier wiretaps that prompted Tom to walk out the door?

  Bert Fields is adamant that Pellicano was not used to tap Nicole Kidman’s phone. ‘Prior to the Kidman divorce, Anthony Pellicano had a dispute with Tom Cruise’s accountant,’ Fields told me, ‘which led Tom to instruct us not to use Pellicano on any of Tom’s cases – and we did not. Pellicano was not retained for Tom on any part or aspect of the Kidman divorce.’91

  Cruise’s lawyer also disputes Marty Rathbun’s version of events. ‘At no time did I tell Marty Rathbun that I wanted to hire Pellicano for Tom on the Kidman matter,’ Fields says. ‘I was well aware of Tom’s instruction not to use Pellicano on his cases. At no time did Rathbun and I discuss anyone tapping Kidman’s phone.’92

  Tom Cruise would not respond to any of the allegations I put to him via his lawyer. But Bert Fields says Cruise had nothing to do with any phone tapping operation. ‘Tom did not seek or want to tap Kidman’s phone at any time and did not ask Rathbun or anyone else to do any such thing.’ He sees his client as a victim of a smear campaign. ‘Tom Cruise is a decent, honest man, who has caused no harm whatsoever to Rathbun or his fellow anti-Scientologists,’ he said. ‘Their continuing attempt to smear him with lies is despicable.’93 In a statement, Scientology’s lawyer Patrick George said, ‘The Church denies the allegations concerning Nicole Kidman.’94

  On 6 February 2001 it was announced that Kidman and Cruise were splitting. A press release put out by Cruise’s then publicist Pat Kingsley stated the couple had regretfully decided to separate, ‘Citing the difficulties inherent in divergent careers which constantly keep them apart, they concluded that an amicable separation seemed best for both of them at this time.’95

  Kidman was shocked when Cruise suddenly wanted to end their marriage. So, too, were those close to her. Kidman’s staff saw how infatuated Tom was with her. It simply didn’t make sense. At the time it was reported that Tom had explained the sudden divorce by saying, ‘Ask Nicole. She knows.’96 One ex-staffer said to me, ‘I would like to know from the Scientologists the real reason that Tom walked out the door – what was it? Was there something explosive in those recordings?’97 It’s a question I could not get an answer to. The tapes have never been made public and no-one close to these events would reveal to me what was on those recordings.

  The Scientology-sponsored wiretapping of Nicole Kidman’s phone went on for around a month.98 Kidman was not the only target. According to Marty Rathbun, Cruise wanted to find out more about the conversations she was having with her long-term friend Russell Crowe. ‘I’m not sure who else,’ Rathbun told me, ‘but I definitely knew he came up because we got in a big background number on Crowe. We went and investigated him to find out everything about him right down to the doctor who delivered him.’99

  Crowe’s star was on the rise in Hollywood. He had just won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Maximus in Ridley Scott’s film Gladiator. Two years earlier Cruise had been photographed sitting next to Crowe as his football team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, played the Auckland Warriors. Now the Church of Scientology was compiling a file on Crowe as part of a surveillance operation organised on behalf of Cruise.

  Rathbun says there was no evidence that Crowe was being anything other than a good friend at a time of deep personal despair for Nicole. ‘I was privy to all these calls,’ he says. ‘I had to be briefed on them and I had to understand them because I had to relay them to Miscavige. In my personal opinion there was nothing to warrant any concern based on the substance and content of those calls.’100

  Once the surveillance stopped and the divorce was finalised, the Church of Scientology did not leave Nicole Kidman alone. According to former senior Scientologists, its next step was to turn Kidman’s children against her. Marty Rathbun claims Scientology official Tommy Davis was indoctrinating Isabella (Bella) and Connor Cruise. ‘Tommy told them over and over again their mother was a sociopath, and after a while they believed him,’ Rathbun told the Hollywood Reporter. ‘They had daily sessions with Tommy. I was there. I saw it.’101

  Back when Tommy Davis was still an active Scientologist he denied the claim. In a written statement in 2012 he said, ‘Marty Rathbun never witnessed conversations between me and Isabella and Connor Cruise about their mother because no such conversations ever occurred. I have never spoken with Isabella or Connor about their mother and never would as it is none of my business.’102

  John Brousseau, the former Sea Org member who built limousines and motorhomes for Cruise and renovated his airport hangar, believes someone was indoctrinating the children by telling them that their mother was what Scientology calls a ‘Suppressive Person’, or SP. After the divorce the children spent time in his care while Tom was being recruited back in to Scientology:

  I sort of became the guy to keep them occupied, to keep them out of the way so that Miscavige could deal with Tom without the kids. So I hung out with them took them around to ride ATVs (all-terrain vehicles), took them fishing and all kinds of things on the Int Base and got to know them quite well. I was sort of like Uncle JB to them.103

  Brousseau says the Cruise children confided in him and would talk candidly about their mother. ‘I knew they were getting some kind of training on the PTS/SP course,’ he says, ‘and they probably on half-a-dozen occasions would make derogatory comments about Nicole. On one occasion Connor and Bella were both telling me how they had recognised that she’s an SP and I remember thinking at the time, Wow, they were coerced into this thinking.’104

  TV star and former Scientologist Leah Remini says she heard similar terms used by Bella Cruise when she was a teenager. After the 2006 wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Remini shared a ride with Connor and Bella to the airport. The star of The King of Queens asked the siblings, ‘How’s your mom? Do you see her a lot?’ According to Remini, Bella shot back, ‘Not if I have a choice. Our mom is a fucking SP.’105 A former Kidman staffer says after the divorce Nicole remained scared of the Church of Scientology. ‘She knew they were powerful,’ he says. ‘She knew they were dirty.’106

  Scientology got Tom Cruise back in to the fold and secured his children at the same time. But the surveillance culture used against Nicole would soon be turned against Tom. According to several former Sea Org members, Cruise’s auditing sessions with Marty Rathbun were videotaped and his personal confessions became fodder for Miscavige’s warped sense of humour.107

  Former Scientology executive Tom DeVocht says Miscavige would watch tapes of Cruise’s confidential auditing sessions before sharing personal details about his sex life with close colleagues. ‘I would sit there every night with a Scotch and watch and listen to Miscavige comment about Cruise�
��s sex life and how perverted he was,’ recalled DeVocht.108

  Privately Miscavige might have belittled Scientology’s star recruit but publicly and in person Miscavige was full of praise for Cruise, suggesting that he, like him, had superhuman powers. ‘Miscavige convinced Cruise that he and Tom were two of only a handful of truly “big beings” on the planet,’ recalled Rathbun. ‘He instructed Cruise that LRH [Hubbard] was relying upon them to unite with the few others of their ilk on earth to make it on to “Target Two” – some unspecified galactic locale where they would meet up with Hubbard in the afterlife.’109

  Cruise’s renewed dedication to Scientology came with benefits to Miscavige. He was used to lobby foreign leaders and US ambassadors to help defend Scientology. He asked President Clinton to try and convince Tony Blair to give Scientology tax-deductible charity status in the UK. He met with Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to see what he could do about the hostility towards Scientology in Germany.110

  Miscavige rewarded Cruise for his efforts. At the International Association of Scientologists’ 20th anniversary gala in 2004, he was presented with a special award struck in his honour, the Freedom Medal of Valor. As he hung the diamond-encrusted medal around Cruise’s neck, Miscavige described him as ‘the most dedicated Scientologist I know’. It was a deeply offensive comment to all those Sea Org members who had dedicated their lives to the cause, slaving away for just US$50 a week. This was the man who had gone missing during the TIME magazine controversy, and the battle to win tax-free status with the IRS.

  As Cruise received his award, saluted Miscavige and then hugged him, there in the front row applauding was James Packer – the son of Australia’s richest man. Unbeknownst to most of the Scientologists in the room, the recruitment of James Packer became Miscavige’s next big priority. The man who delivered the young mogul to Scientology was, of course, Tom Cruise.