Tom Cruise brought Scientology back into the spotlight with his infamous appearance on Oprah's talk show in May of 2005. Though his behaviour was criticized as inappropriate and possibly insane, it is important to note the context of his interview. Cruise was playing to an audience - any abnormal behaviour could (and did) make huge waves in the media for himself and for Scientology. As they say, no press is bad press, and this is certainly true for the Church of Scientology. Without the exposure that this interview granted the organization, it is difficult to say how mainstream they would be today. It's also important to realize that Cruise doesn't mention Scientology in his appearance with Oprah at all. He attributes his erratic behaviour to his new love, Katie Holmes. Cruise had been vocal about Scientology in recent years, though and tabloids took this and ran with it. The new story was that Scientology had driven Tom Cruise crazy. Some clips from the infamous Oprah episode are below - note that Scientology is never mentioned(1).
Nevertheless, Cruise has gained just as much press coverage since his appearance on Oprah for his Scientology as he has for his acting roles. He has remained somewhat of a joke on the internet and in print. Tom Cruise continues to be vocal and positive about his religious affiliations, claiming that Scientology has cured his dyslexia and made him an overall better person.
Relationships
Tom Cruise's relationships are reported to have been dictated by the Church of Scientology. Cruise's first two wives, Mimi Rogers and Nicole Kidman, proved to be poor Scientologists (or perhaps not Scientologists at all). These relationships failed, and multiple news sources have stated the the church held some of the blame. Officials in the church even chose a suitable Scientologist, a beautiful young brunette named Nazanin Boniadi, to be Cruise's partner in 2004. Sadly, Boniadi also fell out of favour with the church, and Cruise moved on to the woman to drive him mad on television, Katie Holmes.
Katie and Tom had only known each other for about a month when he chased her around Oprah's studio and dragged her on stage. She fell pregnant two months later, and stayed with Tom for six years. Katie has mentioned that she didn't "go out much" during her marriage to Tom, and has shown dislike for the Church of Scientology and the oppressive nature of her ex-husband. In their divorce, Katie maintained primary custody of their child Suri, and has removed her from the church entirely. Other Scientologists, especially mothers, have condemned her for this decision, lamenting that "Katie has denied Suri her spiritual eternity in the church. There's no chance for her now. Why would Katie deny their daughter her spiritual freedom? How oppressive is that?"(2)
The Vanity Fair article, from which the above information was taken, did not go over well with Scientologists. It portrayed not only Tom Cruise, but the church as a whole in a blatantly negative light. The entire article is full of accusations of controlling officials, unfair legal documents forced on unwilling participants, and various cult-like tendencies. The church, in retaliation to the negative press, accused journalist Maureen Orth in an open letter hosted on their own website, of producing a "hatchet-job, . . . bigoted" representation of their religion, and making copious false accusations(3). The threatened legal action for divulging private information about Tom Cruise's marriage and divorce proceedings, and claimed that Orth's attempt to contact the Church's Public Affairs Office was very short notice, and therefore could obviously not reasonably be accommodated (Orth had taken the church's refusal to comment as an attempt at evading responsibility on their part).
References:
1. Nicholson, A. (2014, May 20). How YouTube and internet journalism destroyed Tom Cruise, our last real movie star. LA Weekly. Retrieved from http://www.laweekly.com/news/how-youtube-and-internet-journalism-destroyed-tom-cruise-our-last-real-movie-star-4656549
2. Orth, M. (2012, October). What Katie didn’t know. Vanity Fair. Retrieved from http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2012/10/katie-holmes-divorce-scientology
3. Church of Scientology responds to ‘hatchet-job’ Vanity Fair article on Tom Cruise. (2012, September 17). Today. Retrieved from http://www.today.com/popculture/church-scientology-responds-hatchet-job-vanity-fair-article-tom-cruise-1B5934729
3. Church of Scientology responds to ‘hatchet-job’ Vanity Fair article on Tom Cruise. (2012, September 17). Today. Retrieved from http://www.today.com/popculture/church-scientology-responds-hatchet-job-vanity-fair-article-tom-cruise-1B5934729