News broke yesterday about famed celebrity biographer Andrew Morton’s new book subject, Angelina Jolie. While we had sources confirm this to us a while back, Glosslip is like the Fort Knox of secrets and we keep ours close to the vest.

Andrew Morton, who made headlines in 2008 with his controversial unauthorized Tom Cruise biography, is embarking on what might be the biggest challenge in his literary career. And that’s saying something, considering Morton is the man behind the Princess Diana story, telling of her private pain as Princess of Wales, as well as having made a permanent enemy of Madonna by revealing her many controlling ways and exposing the behind the scenes secrets of Presidential mistress Monica Lewinsky. Morton has secured his place in the best-seller hall of fame with his series of thoughtfully researched (and unauthorized) biographies.

We were able to track down the reclusive writer and get a statement on this new book (which we CAN’T WAIT to read). When I asked Morton why he chose the relatively young, but attention-getting Jolie, Morton had this to say:

“AJ is one of the most fascinating women on the planet. Hers has been an extraordinary journey and it is an extraordinary story. I am looking forward to telling it.”

Short and sweet, but concise. Angelina, already known for her wild behavior, strange relationships and humanitarian work, became an international celebrity sensation when she was linked to mega star Brad Pitt (when he was still married!)

There has been endless speculation and fascination surrounding Jolie’s role in the demise of one of Hollywood’s golden couples, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, who divorced in 2005 coincidentally, after Pitt and Jolie teamed up to work on the hit movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Here’s more on the new project and Morton from the Telegraph:

Miss Jolie’s colourful life will provide plenty of material. Twice divorced, she has had a long-running feud with actor father Jon Voight and has adopted a string of children.

Professionally, she has risen to become one of Hollywood’s leading actresses, starring in films including Lara Croft Tomb Raider, A Mighty Heart, The Good Shepherd and Changeling. It was on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith that she met her now partner, Brad Pitt, with whom she has adopted several children.

The couple are also famed for their humanitarian work in the world’s trouble spots and Miss Jolie is a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.

Mr Morton’s unauthorised book about the star will reportedly be produced by US publishing giant St. Martin’s Press next winter.

His previous work includes the 1992 exposé Diana, Her True Story, for which the Princess of Wales was later revealed to have been the main source.

More recently, a biography of Tom Cruise brought legal threats after Morton suggested the Top Gun star had tailored his life to helping further the cause of the Church of Scientology and had become its de-facto second-in-command.

Mr Cruise has vehemently denied Morton’s allegations

There is zero doubt that Morton will shed some much needed light into many of the untruths spread by Angelina Jolie’s PR machine and we should expect to find some secrets revealed about her and Brad’s intimate relationship, most especially, when it REALLY began and how far they were both willing to go to protect their reputations, while deftly throwing Brad’s ex, Jennifer Aniston under the bus!

Stay tuned for more on this book!

Here’s a brief subject description from Amazon’s site, where you can no longer get the book (read about how Amazon pulled this book after a visit from top Scientologist and second in command, Tom Cruise on Nov. 5.)

For the first time ever, a former high-ranking member of the Church of Scientology is lifting the lid on life inside the world s fastest growing cult. The Complex reveals the true story behind the religion that has ensnared a who’s who list of celebrities such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, and convinced thousands of ordinary people to join up.

Duignan describes how two years ago he staged a dramatic escape from the elite paramilitary group at the core of the Church, the Sea Organisation, and how he narrowly evaded pursuit by Scientologists from the Office of Special Affairs. He looks back on the 22 years he served in the Church s secret army and describes the hours of sleep deprivation, brain-washing and intense auditing or religious counselling he endured, as he was moulded into a soldier of Scientology. He talks about the money-making-machine at the heart of the Church, the Scientology goal to Clear the Planet and Get Ethics In , the training programmes, the Rehabilitation Project Force and the punishments meted out to anyone who transgresses, including children. We follow his journey through the Church and the painful investigation that leads to his eventual realisation that there is something very wrong at Scientology s core.

The beliefs of the Church of Scientology might sound like something from a science fiction book but The Complex reveals that the Church s growing power base is a shocking reality.

Show begins at 12:00Noon, EST, on Tuesday, November 18.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW.

These days, you can’t escape news involving Madonna, some of which of her own making like her divorce or her tour Sweet and Sticky, and some which she might otherwise like to forget. Madonna’s toying with the media shows us that sometimes the media toys with her, as is the case with a sensational article at Tina Brown’s news site, The Daily Beast.

The former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker may have left print media behind, but she hasn’t stopped making news. Not only has Ms. Brown salvaged stories otherwise doomed to be scrapped to the editing floor, like she did with a recent JLo story, but she’s given a home to lost gems that might otherwise be mired in legal red tape, such as the lost Madonna tapes presented with the help of NYT bestselling biographer Andrew Morton.

Morton, who braved the beast himself by writing a biography on the Material Girl, gifts us with further, as well as, never before heard tapes of the fledgling stages of Madonna’s emerging talent, a talent mind you, which has amassed her a fortune close to half a billion dollars (some of which she may be forced to turn over to soon to be ex-hubby Guy Ritchie).

Here’s a excerpt from Morton’s article, click here to read the entire piece.

I was reminded of how far and fast Madonna has come in a conversation with Ed Gilroy, one of the men Madonna credits with setting her on the yellow brick road to stardom. Back in the early 1980s he and his brother Dan had a modestly successful band, the Breakfast Club. Dan was dating Ms Ciccone as she was trying, and failing, to get work in her chosen profession as a dancer. She moved in with Dan and tried her hand at drumming – with a little help from Ed – practicing in the basement of the disused synagogue in Queens where they all lived. She soon graduated to singing, songwriting and after a couple of years she moved onwards and upwards. Seen by everyone but never seen by the boys again.

Ed still lives in the synagogue and recalled those days when Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March this year. He took his own walk down memory lane and ventured again into the dingy basement where Madonna spent hours practicing the four guitar chords Dan taught her. Amidst the detritus of old amplifiers, beaten up electric guitars and drum kits was a tatty white plastic bag. Inside were five of Ed’s old tape cassettes that were used to make some of her earliest recordings of her performing– as well as her thoughts on life, nose picking and scratching her ass.

To listen to portions of the tape, click on the player below.

Morton, who I became acquainted with during my investigation into the Church of Scientology, mentioned such tapes existed. I may or may not have heard portions previously, which if nothing else, proves I can keep a really big secret — and so can Andrew Morton — well, until now

UPDATE: Dawn Olsen of Glosslip called in to Shaun Daily’s BTRToday show and got to speak with Ms. Brown about this story and about her fantastic new site. Click here to listen to Shaun’s interview with Tina Brown.

TOM Cruise’s lawyer is comparing a TV doctor’s analysis of the star’s mental health to Nazi methods. In next month’s Playboy, Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew,” says: ”

A lot of people in the public eye who behave strangely have mental illness we can learn from, and much of it is based on childhood trauma, without a doubt. Take a guy like Tom Cruise. Why would somebody be drawn into a cultish kind of environment like Scientology? To me, that’s a function of a very deep emptiness and suggests serious neglect in childhood – maybe some abuse, but mostly neglect.”

Cruise’s lawyer, Bert Fields, told us:

“This unqualified television performer who is obviously just looking for notoriety is so grotesquely unprofessional as to pretend to diagnose Tom and others without ever meeting them. He seems to be spewing the absurdity that all Scientologists are mentally ill. The last time we heard garbage like this was from Joseph Goebbels.”

I interviewed celebrity biographer Andrew Morton a while back, who wrote the definitive book on Tom Cruise. We talked at great length about Cruise and his childhood, and he described Tom’s relationship with his dad, an abusive absentee father, as a defining context for Tom’s evolution into who he has become now. Tom, being the youngest and the only son in a house full of women, was pampered by his mother and sisters, but despite this love and nurturing, Tom clearly missed having a father figure in his life.

When you add Tom’s size (he’s 5′7″ at best) and his inherent insecurities about this, you have a guy who is constantly over-compensating for a lack of something. In this case, a lack of a father. Tom was abused, but I doubt he was ever neglected. In fact, Tom’s world centered around Tom and always has. This made him a perfect candidate for Scientology, a religion built on the notion of constant self-improvement and the belief that those who practice the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, will become better than everyone else by achieving super-human powers.

Tom’s issue isn’t abuse and neglect, his issue is an extreme sense of “specialness” or as we like to call it in Hollywood: narcissism. Scientology appeals to those who think only “they” can save the world, and only they can achieve “enlightenment”, the fact that it’s a cult (which it is) has more to do with the mental illness of the individual (the malevolent David Miscavige who’s Tom Cruise’s best friend) in charge of the organization and the infrastructure centered around secretiveness.

While Dr. Pinsky has a few things right, he’s missed the mark in some key areas. I encourage him to pursue the subject further though, as he may be on to something by linking mental illness and joining cults.

As anyone who reads this site knows I am a huge fan of Andrew Morton, and his book, Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography influenced me greatly in expanding my knowledge of Scientology and its second-in-command, actor Tom Cruise.

Andrew, in the midst of promoting his Tom Cruise book was in the Netherlands and members of the group Anonymous visited him during this tour, and the above photo was taken. For more on the encounter, go to Enturbulation.org.

As an aside, I have encountered scores of people who would question Morton’s role in this fight against the Church, in the interest of trying to remain neutral, I’ve been measured in my response. Allow me to say now, that is sheer BOLLOCKS! Knowing the full extent of Andrew’s role in exposing Scientology’s abuses gives me the right to say so.

Without Andrew’s encouragement (and that of Ian Halperin) I might not have continued on exposing the CoS like I have tried to do. Glad to see Morton finally getting some appreciation!

Jeebus H. Tapdancing Xenus! Just when you thought Fox’s No Spin Zone’s very own Bill O’Reilly couldn’t be a bigger assmonkey, you see this video of him during his time on “Inside Edition.”

Sadly, the crybabies at YouTube have already had it pulled because they are controlled by anyone with a bigger schlong than they have (which is EVERYONE including eunuchs), but Gawker has it preserved for journalistic integrity.

So, go on over and watch Bill make an ass out of himself, for the billionth time.

And just for fun, below is a nice clip of Bill getting his sh*t thrown back at him by Andrew Morton, who is as handsome as he is tall. Bill on one hand says he has a friend who is a Scientologist and tries to defend the “religion, but then proudly proclaims it’s a cult to Morton, ‘cuz you know, Andrew might not have caught on to that fact. This interview is so full of fail for O’Reilly they should call the “No Win Zone”.

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:

“This 25th Anniversary show is not only a reflective piece on Cruise’s Hollywood career, but also a brilliant chance to resurrect his image.

The Oprah show is the show of choice for Hollywood royalty; the prince of Pacific Palisades talking to the Queen of TV.

This is the first major American interview Tom Cruise has done for nearly three years, and interestingly, it’s the first he’s done not associated with promoting one of his blockbuster films.

Tom’s publicity team see Cruise being sucked into this publicity black hole, and Oprah’s throwing him life line.

Tom Cruise only does interviews when he has movies coming out, the last few films, War of the World, MI:3, Collateral Damage have all been used as a soapbox to promote Scientology, and he uses these opportunities to meet world ambassadors and heads of state to talk about religious freedom, but they’ve always been propelled by the sale of his films, this is the first time he’s given a big interview when he’s not selling something.

It shows you he’s desperate to reposition himself in the American imagination.”

Andrew Morton’s right. Desperation is the underlying impetus in all of this. Cruise’s image has been pummeled into submission in the last three years. Tom went from being the world’s most profitable movie-star, with hordes of women SWOONING in his presence, to becoming the laughing stock of Hollywood and seen as being rather, shall we say, “creepy.”

Tom’s calculated risk of using his film PR to promote his faith of Scientology back-fired, and honestly, it shows a major blindside in not only his vision, but that of his PR team. The Cruise camp seemed to be the only group who didn’t see this black hole coming.

Let’s face it, people go to see movies to escape from their everyday world, they want action, romance, comedy, intrigue, what they don’t want is “bat-shit crazy speak” from a very marginally-appealing pseudo-religion which seems to recruit celebs solely for the purpose of attracting followers. Regardless of all the creepy, sinister and illegal things Scientology has done as an organization, the general population just doesn’t take it seriously — and the fact celebs are the only ones promoting it — makes this fact all the more salient.

If Tom Cruise really wanted to save the world and attract followers to his faith, he should take a page out of all the history books on religious figures and lead by example. If molesting Oprah’s couch is an example of what Scientology does to one’s brain, no thanks.

[Cruise/Oprah image courtesy of Anonymous, Cruise Montage photo credit, Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography]

The actor hasn’t appeared on Winfrey’s daytime talk show since his June 23, 2005, appearance where in addition to promoting “War of the Worlds,” he very enthusiastically expressed his love for future wife Katie Holmes (we’re putting the whole couch incident in the past).

It’s not clear what the focus of this show will be, but it is well-timed to May sweeps, and a quick look at the calendar shows that this summer is the 25th anniversary of Cruise’s breakthrough role in “Risky Business.”

A rep for Warner Home Video does confirm that there are “special plans” for the anniversary, and details are being finalized. Other celebrities have been contacted about being involved in the show according to sources close to them, so expect it to be an A-list hour of television. Cruise’s publicist wasn’t available for comment and “The Oprah Winfrey Show” didn’t respond by deadline.

Let’s think about this for a second. The last time Tom Cruise appeared on Oprah’s show he made a complete ass out of himself and spawned a new term in the cultural lexicon “couch-jumping” which is synonymous with “bat-shit crazy.” It was this singular event which caught the eye of celeb biographer Andrew Morton and was the impetus for his explosive book on Cruise. A book mind you, which was the lead domino in a slew of toppling dominoes on the whole Cruise/CoS backlash.

Also going on during this major Cruise brain-fart, was the whole TomKat debacle. Cruise was clearly on a one-man cruiSAde to destroy his career (most likely by the ill-fated prompting of his “friends” at the Church). Not only did Tom attack Brooke Shields for treating her post-partum depression and tell Matt Lauer he was being glib, but he also managed to burn the most powerful bridge in Hollywood — no, not one that leads to “total Freedom” — but rather the one that leads to Steven Spielberg. And if anyone has the power to destroy the Church of Scientology and its pervasive tentacles slithering in every aspect of Hollywood, it’s Steven Spielberg.

Nope, not even the massive army of Oprahites are going to resurrect Tom and his doomed career. Only leaving the CoS, denouncing their abusive practices and sworn testimony against certain misdeed-doers will do anything to help the poor guy.

I almost feel bad. Almost.

(hattip: Enturbulation.org)

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?

If what’s happened to Nicole Kidman and her two children from her marriage to Tom, Isabella and Connor, are any indication, Katie will be in for the fight of her life. During my interview with Andrew Morton we discussed these very topics, and concluded that Nicole was a victim of the Church of Scientology’s “disconnection” policy. In essence, because Nicole walked away from Tom and Scientology she would be considered a “suppressive person” and her children, also practicing Scientologists, would be obligated to present their mother with a “disconnection” letter and be cut out of their lives. Nicole admitted in an interview her children don’t call her mother anymore and she communicates with them infrequently and mostly by way of telephone and video conferencing.

Glosslip Interview with Morton on Nicole’s Disconnection

So what about Katie? Well, we don’t really know what training she’s had within Scientology, or how committed she is. Brought up a devout Catholic, Katie’s family seemed shocked when she converted to Scientology. It is likely as more and more celebs come forward, as Jason Beghe did in his candid video, Katie may feel emboldened to break free of the constricting life in the CoS. If she does, she will have to choose between Suri or freedom from the cloying religion.

Andrew Discusses Katie’s World In Scientology

Mark my words, Tom Cruise will NOT allow Katie to have custody of Suri should they divorce. Not in a billion-year-contract with the Sea Org is that going to happen.

I pray this story is false, and that Katie Holmes is too naive or beguiled to question Tom and the “faith” he fervently adheres to. If she were to stray, the force of Tom and the CoS would bear down on her in such a way as to crush her very soul. Poor Katie would never survive. She’s just too fragile.

And Suri, well let’s face it, she’s the “chosen one” she’s NOT going anywhere Tom’s not.

(many thanks to Anon for the image)

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.