Tom Cruise rarely does anything spontaneous. Even his ’seemingly-spontaneous’ couch calisthenics on Oprah’s show in 2005 was deemed to be premeditated. All this over-the-top exuberance for finding his “true love” (third time’s the charm, right?) in actress Katie Holmes after only a few weeks of knowing each other, was surely to help make the transition that much more believable. Sadly, contrived spontaneity rarely goes over well.

In the years following this epic interview, Oprah Winfrey and Tom Cruise’s names have become inextricably linked to one another, and created as they say, an elephant in the room. Oprah for her part, was seen as complicit in giving Cruise a forum to really behave in a disingenuous way. She sat back and while he let the crazy out, all the while secretly wondering “WTF?” is going on. Oprah received zero credibility for her Tom Cruise interview, and while she’s still insanely popular, she knows the whole TC interview hangs over her like a dark cloud.

But what about Tom Cruise? What does he have to gain by going back to Oprah’s couch? He too is dogged with the knowledge he let his inner Scientology-induced weirdo out for all the world to gape upon. Surely he’d be better off letting this connection die a excruciatingly slow death. Or perhaps not.

With all the speculation as to what Oprah will be asking Tom, and what Tom will be shilling this time, why not go to the authority on Tom Cruise, the man who spent two years studying, dissecting and analyzing the world’s most famous, and now infamous actor, NYTimes bestselling biographer Andrew Morton.

I asked Mr. Morton for his thoughts on this upcoming interview and he seemed pretty interested in the process that went into bringing these two forces together once more, considering how poorly it went last time. From Morton:

But wait, there’s more…

MSBNC’s Scoop is reporting some very interesting news on the Tom “I molest couches” Cruise front:

But wait, there’s more…

Star magazine, though not your most reliable source for celeb news, is reporting that Katie Holmes may be considering a trial separation from her husband Tom Cruise. Wading through the rumors can be challenging, but there are certain aspects of these “rumors” which resonate with me as a celeb journalist with a penchant for understanding the complicated and bizarre nature of Scientology and the hold it has on its celeb spokesperson, Tom Cruise.

Tom Cruise is a controlling, tightly wrapped person who pays attention to every detail. This applies especially to the women in his life. Cruise doesn’t so much “court” his women, but rather “stalks” them. Katie is no exception. In Andrew Morton’s biography, which is a close as we’re going to get into the inner core of Cruise’s life, Cruise is described as an overly romantic pursuer who chases his conquests until they submit. With Nicole Kidman, his second wife, he showered her with flowers, gifts, and excessive attention throughout their entire 10-year marriage. While from the outside this seems ideal, to the object of Tom’s affection, it’s nothing short of overwhelming.

If Nicole was under tight watch and Cruise still managed to lose her (or leave her when she wasn’t towing the line) we can only imagine what Tom’s done to Katie, a woman much younger, far less sure of herself and clearly more impressionable than the “ice queen” Nicole was.

The Daily Telegraph (quoting Star) lays out the trouble in the TomKat union:

Star magazine also claims that Holmes, 29, is trying to break away from her controlled life under the watchful eyes of her husband and move to Manhattan in what will be a sort of trial separation.

A source told the publication: “She desperately needs to be on her own for a while, but there’s no way Tom is going to let her take Suri away.”

“There’s no way he’ll allow it.

“He just doesn’t want Katie or Suri out of his sight for long.

“He told her that if she goes to New York, fine, but he goes with her.”

It is understood the couple’s tug of war over their daughter has intensified.

There are also reports Tom’s tried to interfere in the close friendship between Katie and Victoria Beckham. Unlike Katie, Victoria aka “Posh” is fiercely independent and is the one running the show in her house of all boys. The alleged issues stem from Katie’s weight and dieting habits which are said to parallel the stick-thin Beckham’s. Not stated, but certainly at play, is the idea that someone other than Tom is influencing Katie. One thing’s clear about Tom “either you’re in, or you’re out” Cruise and that is: on team Tom, there’s only one head coach.

So let’s just assume for the sake of argument that Katie has had enough of Tom’s death-grip on her life and is ready to break free, what would happen to Suri?

But wait, there’s more…

British biographer Andrew Morton is synonymous with controversy. He’s also synonymous with “NYT bestseller,” and making publishing companies rich, yet for some reason (and we know the reason) he can’t catch a break in his home country. For a place known for exposing some of the most slanderous tabloid journalism, the UK sure is frightened of Scientology and Tom Cruise.

Several outlets are reporting on the continued banning of sales on Morton’s book on Cruise in the UK. The Independent points to the harsh libel laws in the country as the reason for the ban:

The American public lapped up the series of lurid accusations contained within, British readers were forced to wait while the book’s UK publishers removed any passages that might be deemed anything approaching libellous. Now it appears that Morton’s latest offering, Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography, may never be printed this side of the Atlantic. Sources at Macmillan told a Sunday newspaper that by the time lawyers had finished deleting any potentially libelous passages there was “not enough left to make a good read”.

Morton spoke with Glosslip exclusively about this latest development and he’s clearly unimpressed with the UK’s decision to ban any publication or sales of his latest NYT’s bestseller: Tom Cruise, An Unauthorized Biography:

I am thrilled that my Tom Cruise biography was a number one New York Times bestseller - my fourth NY Times number one during my writing career. It is for sale in Vietnam,Serbia and China - not countries known for allowing free of expression. Yet in Britain it cannot be sold because of my country’s repressive legal system. The gagging of freedom of speech and expression in Britain and the willingness of judges to pay huge settlements to plaintiffs means that Britain is a haven for libel tourists and sharp lawyers. In an increasingly flat world where information is freely available to the rest of the world apart from Britain this will be a growing problem for authors and publishers.

When we met with Morton a couple weeks ago in New York, we discussed how the distribution of this book had been hampered by its ties to the Church of Scientology, who lists Tom Cruise as their most famous (and now infamous) spokesperson. Morton even indicated the American media’s reticence to do interviews about the book simply out of fear of retribution from Scientology lawyers.

Cruise’s lawyer and close friend, Bert Fields, publicly criticized the book for being poorly researched stating Morton spoke with no one in Cruise’s inner circle. Initially the Cruise camp threatened to sue Morton and and his publisher St. Martin’s press for $50 million. As of yet, no lawsuits have been filed. With over two years of Morton’s life dedicated to exploring Tom Cruise — easily one of the most recognizable figures in the world — and the faith he public shills for, Morton bristled at the notion he would be unable to distribute this book in the UK.

Clearly Tom Cruise, his lawyers and the Church of Scientology’s litigious tentacles have reached across the pond and have publishers cowering. In reality, Tom Cruise should be shaking Andrew Morton’s hand for finally crushing all of the homosexual rumors dogging Cruise for years. You’d think the guy would be a little more appreciative. So much for gratitude.

As we told you yesterday exclusively, world famous biographer Andrew Morton was scheduled to appear on the hugely popular syndicated Joey Reynolds Show out of New York’s WOR station.

The podcast is now available and what a great show! Joey and Andrew discussed his controversial book on Tom Cruise, including the Cruise attack on Brooke Shields, his position in Scientology, celebrity as activists, celeb worship, Stanley Kubrick, Princess Diana, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Winston Churchill, Fidel Castro, Monica Lewinsky, Islamic fundamentalism, Barack and Hilary, His Highness Hollywood and perhaps the coolest thing they mentioned: GLOSSLIP.com. This is a great interview and these two forces of nature make for good radio - and now video!

Another fabulous best-selling writer and filmmaker, Ian Halperin, who was also a featured guest on Joey’s show last week, was in the studio filming the interview live and we have that footage. Above is part 1 of 4 - exclusive to Glosslip.

The two Scientology expose authors, who were reported by Gawker.com to be in hiding three months ago, have now resurfaced in New York and have been spotted together severals times during the last week.

Morton meets world famous illusionist The Amazing Kreskin backstage in the WOR greenroom.

Front right: Halperin’s assistant Allison, Andrew, Joey, Ian and Sean at Reynold’s New York studio

Glosslip sources just received information, Joey Reynolds, famed NY radio personality and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer will be interviewing Andrew Morton this evening for his popular WOR radio show stationed in New York. Here are the details from Joey’s WOR producer Myra Chanin:

Joey always keeps his strongest pretape as the lead into the morning show, 4 am is when it will be broadcast and it will be featured in the morning on www.wor710.com’s webpage and then on Joey Reynolds Webpage at WOW plus it will be archived for two months.

Andrew, whose NYT bestselling biography, Tom Cruise, An Unauthorized Biography details the life, career and faith of one Hollywood’s most recognizable figures and gives wonderful insight into Scientology’s role in Cruise’s life, as well as Cruise’s role in making Scientology a name synonymous with celebs and controversy.

Andrew will appear in the 4:00am - 5:00am spot on the show, but as stated above, the show will be archived and will be featured on the WOR website the following morning.

As an aside, there’s been a tremendous amount of discussion about how significant Morton’s book has been to the current trend of anti-Scientology sentiment being expressed on the internet and around the world. Some members of Anonymous feel Morton has co-opted an on-going effort to bring down the Church of Scientology, whereas others feel he was at the very least, an impetus for scrutiny.

There’s no denying the leaking of the infamous Tom Cruise/KSW video was a spark for change, and the CoS’s responded in typical fashion by threatening YouTube and anyone else hosting the video.

I assert, based on my perception that BOTH events, working hand-in-hand with one another are the basis of a positive movement to bring awareness to the numerous and unchecked abuses going on within the Church of Scientology. Morton’s book brought it to the mainstream, Anonymous is now bringing it to the people in an organic and grassroots manner, the way all successful campaigns start.

“His Highness Hollywood”, Andrew Morton, and some chick

I have some additional information in the ongoing investigation of equipment tampering which took place during the March 25, “His Highness Hollywood” premiere in New York at the National Arts Club.

Ian Halperin, author of Hollywood Undercover, and filmmaker reported that the NAC detected TEN viruses loaded onto the NAC laptop used during the viewing of the film. If you will recall from my earlier report, Ian and the team at NAC did a scan just prior to the film’s screening and the laptop used came up completely clean of viruses. In the wake of the screening fiasco, the NAC launched an official investigation into the apparent sabotage which took place and were able to identify at least one of the malicious programs as a trojan.

The NAC is also having the laptop dusted for fingerprints. Hopefully they will be able to isolate the ones responsible, although with the number of people at the event, this may prove difficult. Ian also informed me that a NEW screening of the film is scheduled to take place soon (I can’t reveal the location or the date because of increased concerns about additional tampering) and that they have already assigned a team of four security personnel to guard the equipment at the next event.

Glosslip will have full exclusive coverage of that event. We will keep you posted.

Authors Ian Halperin and Andrew Morton

Ian Halperin, best-selling author and documentarian, took every precaution to make sure the premiere of his new film “His Highness Hollywood” went smoothly. The film, which chronicles Halperin’s investigative foray into the world of Hollywood, is a side-by-side, chapter-by-chapter look at his experiences writing the book, Hollywood Undercover.

Ian and I first communicated with each other back in January during the blitz of media coverage surrounding the release of Andrew Morton’s Tom Cruise biography and the leaking of a video featuring an unhinged Cruise extolling the “virtues” of Scientology. Ian’s book, much like Andrew’s, deals with the inextricable link between Hollywood, Celebrities and the Church of Scientology.

Simply put, they are two sums of a whole part. Not only does Scientology present an imposing physical presence in Hollywood, with their gothic-style Celebrity Center nestled comfortably on Hollywood Blvd, but they have a stable of stars which would make any organization envious. As Tom Cruise says, “it’s KSW” and the CoS has Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Nancy Cartwright, Kirstie Alley and many, many more, who are doing their part to “keep Scientology working.”

Switching coasts, I find myself invited to Ian’s premiere, held at the prestigious National Arts Club in Manhattan. While Glosslip has been fighting tooth and nail to carve a niche for ourselves in fly-over country, in no way was I going to let a little thing like distance keep me from attending this premiere. Eric, my husband and the publisher of Blogcritics.org, was supposed to go with me, but alas the timing was not right for us both to be gone, so with his blessings and support I was told to go forth and represent.

But wait, there’s more…

In segment number 4, I ask Andrew an off-the-wall question about David Miscavige, leader of the Church of Scientology and Tom Cruise’s BFF, but the most interesting part comes at the end of the interview when I ask if Andrew believes Tom Cruise, Scientology’s 2nd in command, is aware of the Church’s many abuses.

Andrew’s answer is powerful, and reveals as much about the Church as is does the about the author himself. I believe Mr. Morton is no longer a pedestrian biographer, simply sharing information about an interesting subject, but rather a human being compelled to do as much as he can to right very obvious wrongs.

In this segment, the third in the series, Andrew answers a difficult hypothetical question: If one of Tom Cruise’s children were to defect from the Church of Scientology, would HE disconnect from them? Andrew’s answer is measured, but concise.

This was a very important question I felt, as this is a very real issue for members of Scientology every day. The Church has an active disconnect policy which requires them to officially declare they have disconnected from a person who has left the faith, be it a wife, mother, father, or child — whomever. To me, above all other abuses, this policy is the most reprehensible and cruel.