Scientology Alienates Kidman

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

When Nicole Kidman was served with divorce papers by Tom Cruise in 2001, she didn’t just lose a husband – she also lost the relationship she had with her two adopted children with the actor, Isabella and Connor. In the 11 years since the split, the “Rabbit Hole” actress has only been seen with the kids a handful of times and she has gone on record to say they don’t even call her “Mom.” Now, Vanity Fair is revealing why: because she was not a Scientologist, like their father.

Scientology Controls Children

In the magazine’s October 2012 issue, special correspondent Maureen Orth gives an in-depth look into Cruise’s controversial religion of Scientology. In addition to reporting that he “auditioned” women to be his wife before Katie Holmes, Orth also claims that members of the church turned Isabella and Connor, who were 8 and 6 respectively at the time, against their mother using fear-based brainwashing techniques.

“The central problem [in the marriage] was Nicole did not want to deal with Scientology,”

former high-ranking Scientologist Marty Rathbun tells VF.

After the split from Cruise, Kidman, 45, was labeled a “Suppressive Person,” or SP, which is what Scientologists call those who they deem toxic to their beliefs – and Isabella and Connor, now 19 and 17, were urged to view their mother as an SP. “They rejected Nicole – they’ve been instructed,” John Brousseau, who was a Scientologist for 32 years until 2010 and formerly the bodyguard and brother-in-law to church leader David Miscavige, tells VF. “They took a course, P.T.S./S.P., Potential Trouble Source/Suppressive Person, for persons connected in their lives who are an S.P. [Bella and Connor] whispered to me, ‘J.B., Nicole is an S.P.! Our mom’s an S.P. – we hate going and seeing her.’”

Scientology Controls Viewing

Brousseau and other sources tell Orth that Scientology members were also instructed to not see any of Kidman’s films. “The Scientology world hated Nicole,” Brousseau adds. “People in Sea Org were mandated to see every freaking Tom Cruise movie that came out. But if you ever mentioned an inkling to see a movie with Nicole, oh my God, you’d hear about it.”

All claims made by VF, including the report that Isabella and Connor were turned against Kidman, have been adamantly denied by The Church of Scientology. Kidman’s rep did not comment to VF or omg! when contacted.

Life After Cruise & Scientology

Though it’s unclear if the children “hate” spending time with Kidman, a 2010 interview with the Associated Press sheds light on the contact they’ve maintained throughout the years.

Reflecting on the life she shares with husband Keith Urban and their family, Kidman was candid as to where her adopted kids stood in that picture.

“They live with Tom, which was their choice. I’d love them to live with us, but what can you do?” Kidman said.

Cruise remains an active part of their upbringing, recently accompanying Connor, who works as a DJ, on a club gig in London as interest swirled around Tom’s divorce from Katie Holmes.

After splitting from Cruise and walking away from Scientology, Kidman went on to marry country singer Keith Urban and has two biological children of her own: Sunday Rose, 4, and Faith Margaret, 21 months.

Source:  OMG!; Vanity Fair