Tony Ortega was, of course, right there!
British Newspaper The SunSneaks Reporter into Scientology Annual Gala!
We have to hand it to reporter Amy Jones of The Sun — she really punked Scientology leader David Miscavige and his obsession with security.Late Monday night, the British newspaper published Jones’s accountof walking into Scientology’s big annual gala which takes place in the UK each October to celebrate the International Association of Scientologists. The big IAS party is one of half a dozen major events put on by the church at different places around the world, and they all feature Miscavige on stage, feeding thousands of followers a lot of hard-to-believe assertions about Scientology’s expansion around the globe.
We’ve reported on leaked videos of past IAS and other events. But for her story, Jones managed to get inside and watch this IAS party while it was going on, and was never challenged by Scientology’s legendarily tight security.
Jones captured the look and feel of a Scientology party perfectly, and she focused particularly on the way Miscavige attacked psychiatry — a familiar theme at such events. She described how ridiculous Miscavige sounded trying to blame the Holocaust on psychiatrists, rather than, say, the Nazis.
“The bureaucracy, the methodology, even the ideology for mass murder, sprang fully-armed from the forehead of German psychiatry,” Miscavige said, according to Jones.
Jones did get one little thing wrong. She reported the IAS slogan as “Dominant, Defiant, Resolute.” But we know from our obsession with in-house Scientology rapper Chill EB that the slogan is actually “Dauntless, Defiant, Resolute.”
We’re not quibbling. Jones did a great job. She captured Miscavige’s style of delivery, the tackiness of the stage dressing, and the constant self-congratulation.
Just imagine the pounding some Sea Org security members are going to get from Miscavige after he realizes what happened. Oh my.
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The Holocaust wasn’t Nazis... it was psychiatrists
— says cult leader David Miscavige as The Sun goes inside the sinister UK lair of Scientology
Tacky ... statues of golden horses flank a huge globe as L. Ron Hubbard looks on at Scientology meeting
DARREN FLETCHER
Published: 3 hrs ago
IT’S the cult that loves to flaunt its celebrity members while remaining obsessively secretive.
At the weekend members flocked from all over the planet to the home of UK Scientology — the middle-England commuter town of East Grinstead — for the annual address by its leader David Miscavige.
Cult leader ... David Miscavige
And The Sun was able to wander in unchallenged for a peek into the sect’s mysterious world.
We heard the bizarre declarations of Miscavige — including his insistence that the Holocaust was started not by Nazis but by SHRINKS.
Although the Saint Hill Manor HQ is brimming with security guards, we are welcomed inside and follow the surging crowd entering an enormous tent at the back.
It is a mix of pensioners, teenagers, families in their Sunday best, women in cocktail dresses and men in sharp suits. It could be a country fair or a public school open day.
But this is Scientology’s 28th International Anniversary Event, where followers celebrate the sect founded by L Ron Hubbard.
Inside you are expected to sit according to nationality. There are large American, German and French contingents. We join the group waving Union Flags.
The stage is flanked by two golden statues of horses mid-gallop and behind is a giant image of a globe — as if to say, “This is ours”.
To the left hangs a portrait of Hubbard, his arm resting on another globe. The message is clear.
The crowd is at least 3,000-strong and the mood is one of anticipation.
The tent is buzzing with excitement. But amid the party atmosphere, serious-looking individuals dressed all in black patrol the aisles.
It feels as if you are being constantly watched.
As the lights go down we hear a stirring mission statement: “We are dominant, we are defiant, we are resolute.”
Then we are greeted by the great man himself, Tom Cruise’s buddy and the sect’s global leader — David Miscavige.
He is given a rock star welcome, but delivers an oddly emotionless speech.
From the start we are bombarded with information. There are flashing lights, booming sound effects, and statistic after statistic, some hard to believe.
Miscavige tells us Scientology is present in 126 nations — from Sri Lanka to Vietnam.
He boasts about it rescuing thousands of addicts, although what they’re addicted to is not made clear.
He uses odd terminology at one point, saying Scientology is responsible for “disseminating peace”.
For two hours, Miscavige bangs on about the evils of psychiatry, claiming it is out to drug our kids for money.
He declares: “Psychiatry has no scientific grounding.
“Taking their drugs is like playing Russian roulette.”
He insists that Scientology is out to “de-rail an upside-down Utopia where human sheep quietly graze in a biomedically fertilised meadow”.
He even hands out medals to sect members he claims have helped to imprison corrupt psychiatrists.
Miscavige then tells us the horrors of the Holocaust “did not begin with a Nazi declaration of war”.
He says: “The bureaucracy, the methodology, even the ideology for mass murder, sprang fully-armed from the forehead of German psychiatry.”
Gaudy decor ... followers flock to the cult's UK base in East Grinstead
He goes on to claim that psychiatric euthanasia centres had already claimed 70,000 lives by 1939.
“And that was not the Holocaust,” he adds, smugly.
“That was just the dress rehearsal.”
Then come yet more statistics, more achievements, more boasting.
Every few minutes the crowd is on its feet, hooting and hollering.
The last item in the four-hour presentation is the sect’s new DVD, simply called Scientology. It is thrust upon us by pushy members wanting to make a sale.
But we get out without a copy. Defiant, dominant, resolute.
And bloody pleased to be going.
Outside the Saint Hill estate is another gathering of people desperate to tell their side of the Scientology story — one littered with claims of abuse, manipulation and terror.
An open conference, titled “The Cult In Your Backyard”, it is attended by those who have “escaped” the sect and tried to shine their own light on the mysterious organisation.
They include Steven Jones, 48, from East Grinstead, who left the organisation in 2008.
He claims: “A lot of Scientologists have been through trauma. They prey on weaknesses.
Followers ... John Travolta and Tom Cruise
Sean Thorton/WENN.COM/ XclusivePix.com
“Scientology promises to make you a better person. To improve your intelligence, your happiness and your memory. I became brainwashed.
“I became very compliant, did what I was told — and handed over money whenever they asked.”
Steven says he parted with £80,000 for the sect’s self-improvement courses and projects.
He claims: “It starts off with courses for £30 then you end up spending thousands at a time.
“I’ve been damaged emotionally and I wasted 20 years of my life.”
John McGhee, 34, an embalmer from Dublin, says he followed Scientology for three years from 2008, drawn in by, in his words, “the weirdness and the controversy surrounding it”.
John says he spent around £18,000 during his time with the sect.
He claims: “At one stage they picked me up from work and drove me to the bank to pick up money... I believe it ruins lives. I want to see it brought down.”
Osteopath Vicky Ballard, 65, from Brighton says she was high up in management at Saint Hill, but when she disagreed with certain teachings she alleges the organisation tried to break up her family.
She claims: “Looking back, I realise I was lucky to be chucked out. But at the time it was awful.
“My children were in a Scientology school and they tried to take them away from me.”
Samantha Domingo, 45, from Kent, alleges that the church leaders forced her to have an abortion at 24.
Warnings ... Steven Jones, Vicky Ballard and John McGhee all left cult
DARREN FLETCHER
She says: “I was so under their control that I did what they wanted.
“I just want to see the Church of Scientology crumble. It is a cancer, rotten to the core. But it’s in trouble.
“Tom Cruise is said to be unhappy, John Travolta seems to have taken a step back. I believe their numbers are decreasing and they’re worried.”
Sect of secrets
SCIENTOLOGY was founded in 1952 by the late L Ron Hubbard, a science fiction writer from the US.
His best-selling book, Dianetics, is a key text for those who follow the faith.
He claimed humans are beings called Thetans, which have lived for trillions of years and are constantly reincarnating.
As well as attempting to explain the power of the mind, it promotes a unique counselling technique Scientologists call “auditing” to enable individuals to deal with their past.
The cult has several high-profile converts who are thought to hand over large sums of money to it.
Hubbard bought Saint Hill Manor in West Sussex as Scientology’s British HQ in 1959.
In October 2006 a multi-million pound Scientology centre was opened in London, attended by Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Juliette Lewis.
The church claims to have 123,000 UK followers.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/4604015/Scientology-cult-leader-claims-psychiatrists-caused-the-Holocaust-not-Nazis.html#ixzz2A62K6SZR
Bowled over by her talent: Suri Cruise takes her daily dance class then spends the afternoon knocking down pins with Katie Holmes
By AMELIA PROUD
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You can't say that Suri Cruise is an idle child, despite all her privilege.
Maybe it's down to her mother, Katie, 33, who takes the little one to New York's Chelsea Piers on an almost daily basis so she can attend dance classes.
Busy day: Katie Holmes and Suri enjoyed a spot of bowling at 300 Lanes at Chelsea Piers in New York on Sunday afternoon
And today, the six-year-old rolled up to her ballet instruction and then went ten pin bowling with her mother.
Wearing a cute dance outfit, the youngster had a look of concentration on her face throughout her visit that suggests she means business when it comes to doing thing's right.
It's that same look of intensity so often seen on her father, Tom Cruise's face.
The 50-year-old actor hasn't seen his daughter, who is enrolled in a Catholic school in Manhattan, for ten weeks.
The actor's long-term lawyer and close friend Bert Fields told MailOnline that Cruise was very much 'missing' his little girl - and planned to see her as soon as possible.
Ballet: Suri had a look of intensity on her face as she went about her afternoon of activity
With a Little Help from Her Friends: Suri and her mommy were joined by a group for the fun activity
He stressed: 'Tom is a loving, caring father. Suri is a vital part of his life and always will be.'
Mr Fields added: 'Of course he’ll be seeing her soon. He’s in England finishing one picture and preparing another.'
He said the star was 'absolutely' looking forward to being reunited with his daughter, insisting: 'He misses her.'
The father and daughter have been speaking 'once or twice' a day, according to Mr Fields, who said that his client was extremely proud that Suri had entered the first grade.
'Tom is a loving, caring father... Suri is a vital part of his life and always will be. Of course he’ll be seeing her soon.'
Intense: Suri looks like both her parents but her intensity mirrors her famous father: who she hasn't seen in over ten weeks
Pink is the colour: Suri kept her pumps on to go home, meanwhile, Katie was back in THOSE boots
The Mission Impossible star last saw Suri when he took her away to Disney World in Florida at the end of July - and the pair were pictured frolicking in the waves at the Typhoon Lagoon at the family resort.
Since his split from his Katie Holmes at the end of June, Cruise has been holed up in the UK, where he has been filming his new thriller All You Need Is Kill, while his ex-wife - who has sole custody of their daughter - has started a new life in New York.
Cruise has hardly been quiet though, last Saturday he was seen out at top London restaurant Scott's.
He joined Oscar-nominated director Ridley Scott at the popular celeb haunt for a birthday dinner for chart-topping singer Usher – who proceeded to tweet a picture of the trio.
Native New Yorkers: The mother and daughter caught a cab home, like true Manhattanites
It's been a busy day: Suri is straight in the cab to head home as the security guard watches over his charges
His appearance came just weeks after he partied the night away to celebrate actor Matt Damon’s 42nd birthday at notorious Soho club The Box, where it was reported that he was spanked with a paddle by a drag queen.
He has also been spotted at posh London nightspot Annabel's.
Since she last saw her father, Suri started the first grade on September 11 at Manhattan’s newest private School, Avenues.
And a source said: 'Tom is a multi-millionaire, New York is just a six-and-a-half-hour flight from London, so quite why he couldn't have jumped on a private jet for a weekend is anyone's guess.'
Cruise was filming Oblivion in Iceland when Miss Holmes blindsided him by filed for divorce.
Mr Fields had previously said the fact the Cruise and Miss Holmes agreed to a divorce settlement in just 11 days was in Suri's best interests.
The divorce was finalised in August by a New York judge, marking a particularly speedy end to the five-year marriage.
Miss Holmes is now rehearsing for her next stint on Broadway in comedy Dead Accounts.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2221241/Bowled-talent-Suri-Cruise-takes-dance-class-spends-afternoon-knocking-pins-Katie-Holmes.html#ixzz2A67kd8qA
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