The Church of Scientology was once at its peak in the 2000s and drew attention with its high-profile followers, including Hollywood megastar Tom Cruise . While Cruise has remained largely silent about the church’s controversial nature, he has become its most recognizable celebrity figure. Meanwhile, Seth Rogen previously openly expressed a sense of relief after avoiding Cruise’s efforts to recruit him into Scientology. A clip of Rogen’s remarks resurfaced after the Golden Globes last year, sparking renewed interest in Cruise’s religious affiliations.
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Rogen recalled an encounter with Cruise, where he and Judd Apatow found themselves on the receiving end of an unexpected Scientology pitch from the Mission Impossible star. As reported by Unilad , he said, “[Tom] said ‘If you let me just tell you what it was really about, if you let me give you just 20 minutes to tell you what it was about you would say no f*king way, no f*king way.’ I remember being like, the wording is like, I remember thinking is that a good thing to be saying? Is that a bad thing to be saying?” He added, “I remember there was this very loaded moment where he said this to us. Me and Judd are looking at each other and I’m like is he gonna bite, am I gonna bite? Can we come out of this, are we strong enough to have him do this to us and not be converted?”
Confronted with the idea of embracing a belief in an immortal spirit called Thetan, Rogen admitted he feared he might get pulled into the peculiar ideology. He continued, “I don’t know if I am, I’m generally a weak-willed, weak-minded person I would assume on the grand scale of people. If they got him what chance do I have? Thank god Judd was like ‘I think we’re good, let’s just talk about movies and stuff’. Dodged that bullet.” While Rogen was relieved to have resisted Cruise’s Scientology pitch, the Top Gun: Maverick actor has stayed a steadfast member of the church, despite widespread criticism and accusations of it operating as a cult.
During the 2023 Golden Globe Awards, Jerrod Carmichael took a playful jab at Cruise while hosting the event. Holding three Golden Globe trophies, the comedian joked that he had found the awards Cruise had returned in 2021 in protest of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s lack of Black members. He went on to make a sharp comment about the mysterious absence of Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, who has not been seen publicly since 2007, as reported by Page Six .
Shelly was officially listed as a missing person in 2013 by former Scientologist Leah Remini. Carmichael’s quip about her disappearance left much of the audience stunned into silence, with several also gasping audibly. Over the years, several high-profile celebrities have publicly addressed their associations with Scientology, including John Travolta and The Handmaid’s Tale star Elisabeth Moss. On the flip side, several well-known figures, such as Laura Prepon and Leah Remini, have distanced themselves from the church, with Remini even calling it a “cult,” as reported by BuzzFeed .