Scientology

The Church of Scientology is firing back at accusations it had anything to do with Jim Carrey's girlfriend killing herself -- saying no one blames the Bible when a Christian commits suicide.

Cathriona White was reportedly very active in the Church of Scientology ... taking part in a program called the "Purification Rundown" -- a controversial drug and alcohol detox program combining exercise, medication, and sauna sessions.

But a Scientology spokeswoman tells TMZ any reports connecting White's death to the church are a "sad and reprehensible" way to exploit the tragedy of her death. She also calls it "outright bigotry" because it's "like saying a person who previously studied the Bible committed suicide."

Law enforcement sources tell us investigators will question church officials about Cathriona's involvement in the detox -- but at this point they strongly believe her death had nothing to do with Scientology.

Someone is out to kill Scientology honcho David Miscavige ... or so the guy vows, and it's triggered a big police investigation.

A man repeatedly called the main number for Scientology in Hollywood in July, making very direct threats:

"Tell David that we are going to kill him."

"We are going to assassinate Mr. Miscavige and every single one of you."

"You tell your leader, who is an a**hole and a motherf*****, he is going to be shot pretty soon."

We're told the operator kept the man on the phone during the last call for 2 hours and 55 minutes and got identifying information, including his Skype address.

Scientology forwarded the info to LAPD's Major Crimes Unit, which launched an investigation and executed a search warrant last month. The person the LAPD closed in on is a Jewish businessman.

The private investigators who were tailing the father of Scientology leader David Miscavige were carrying a shocking stash of guns and ammo, including an ominous silencer.

As TMZ reported, Ronald Miscavige -- who claims David kicked him out of the Church -- was tailed for a year-and-a-half by a father/son P.I. team. Cops arrested the father, Dwayne Powell, and found the weapons in his car.

Powell and his son claim they were hired by the Church to follow and even harass Ronald to make sure he didn't do anything to embarrass Scientology. David Miscavige denies he hired the P.I.s or even knew them.

David Miscavige and his Church of Scientology are on a mission -- to "dig up dirt" on people who talk crap on them -- so claims the private investigator who says he was hired to keep David's dad in line. The audio is pretty amazing.

TMZ obtained police audio in which P.I. Daniel Powell told Wisconsin detectives he and his dad were paid $10k a week from the Church to shadow Ronald Miscavige ... to follow him, see who he's talking to, monitor his emails and most of all make sure he's not bad-mouthing David.

Daniel says Ronald used to be the Musical Director of the Church, until David decided his stuff was outdated and put him out to pasture. Daniel says Ronald started going after David, and that's when they were hired to unrelentingly control the elder Miscavige.

Daniel says David paid Ronald off on numerous occasions to keep him quiet.

And Daniel says David has reason to fear Ronald ... because dad has the goods and David is "a terrible person."

Chilling audio ... the father of Scientology leader David Miscavige appeared to be having a heart attack, and his son ordered his people to stand clear and just let him die ... so claims the P.I. who was tailing David's dad.

P.I. Daniel Powell recounted during a police interview in 2013 how he and his dad were following Ronald Miscavige, who left the church, when Ronald suddenly slumped over and appeared to be having a coronary.

Powell says his dad, Dwayne, called the people who hired him on behalf of Scientology and informed them of the situation. He says a short time later David called Dwayne and instructed him not to render aid ... if he died, he died.

We're told it ended up just being a case of the cramps.

David Miscavige's lawyer denies his client hired the P.I.s or even knew them.

Tom Cruise underwrites so much of Scientology, people connected with the Church root for the success of his movies, even when they suck.

P.I. Daniel Powell, who claims to have been hired by the Church to tail the father of Scientology leader David Miscavige, joked with cops ... Tom was the biggest moneymaker by far in the Church.

In fact, Powell wisecracks that Tom is probably paying the $10k a week salary to keep tabs on and harass Ronald Miscavige.

A private investigator was arrested with an arsenal of weapons ... he says while he and his son were mercilessly harassing Scientology leader David Miscavige's father, and at one point when it appeared David's dad was having a heart attack the P.I.s say David told them to just "let him die."

The claims are absolutely shocking. P.I. Dwayne Powell and his son Daniel were on a job in West Allis, Wisconsin in 2013, where Ronald Miscavige lived with his wife. Dwayne says he was surveilling Ronald Miscavige for a year and a half on orders of the Church. Dwayne says the Church was worried Ronald -- who left Scientology -- would "divulge details about the church's activities."

Dwayne says he and his son were paid $10,000 a week to tail Ronald, and harass him. They would search his garbage, sit next to Ronald when he went to restaurants, stand behind him when Ron went to the library to check his emails so they could view the screen, and on and on.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, Dwayne said on one occasion "Ron was loading his purchases into his car and slumped over while grasping his chest." Dwayne and his son thought Ron was having a heart attack so they called their Church contact. Dwayne says 2 minutes later he got a call from a man who identified himself as David Miscavige. The police report says Dwayne recounted that David told him, "If it was Ron's time to die, to let him die and not intervene in any way."

Dwayne was arrested in July 2013, after witnesses reported he was acting suspiciously. When cops searched his car, they found an arsenal of loaded weapons, including a silencer and hundreds of rounds of ammo.

Most recently, in September 2014 ... Ronald went to cops again and said he was still being followed and someone had gone through his trash. He told police David was afraid he would "speak with the media about the negative inner workings of the church and David's abuse of the members of the church."

David Miscavige's lawyer told the L.A. Times, which broke the story, that David did not know Dwayne Powell, hasn't heard of him, hasn't spoken with him and never hired him.

In the documentary ... former Scientologists call for Travolta and Tom Cruise to speak out against the church, but Travolta says, "I haven't experienced anything that the hearsay has (claimed), so why would I communicate something that wasn't true for me?"

Travolta told the Tampa Bay Times he expected the same reaction from Tom Cruise.

He says he has no plans to watch "Going Clear" ... which he called the product of "people who were disgruntled with their experiences."

Travolta added he couldn't have got through tragedies like his son Jett's death without the church's "technology" ... and added, Scientology has "been so beautiful for me, that I can't even imagine attacking it."

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are not at war over the Church of Scientology ... they don't communicate because they have an intense dislike for one another.

When we broke the story -- that Katie and Tom are so estranged they don't even talk about raising their 8-year-old daughter Suri -- we started getting tips that Tom has shut her out because she's an SP ... a Suppressive Person.

An SP stands for several things, including people who disavow the Church. The Church has a procedure for declaring people SPs. Once they're declared an SP, people in the Church are told not to associate with them.

Well-placed sources close to the Church tell TMZ, Katie was NOT declared a Suppressive Person. What's interesting, we're told Katie actually thinks she's been declared one ... but she hasn't.

Sources connected with Tom and Katie tell us there are hard feelings on both sides, which is why they don't communicate. For Tom's part, he feels betrayed because he claims Katie never gave him any warning she was leaving him. For Katie's part, we're told she felt Tom sucked the life out of her.

In the end, Suri is living with her mom and sees her dad from time to time, but the family unit is completely shattered.

Ex-Scientologist Leah Remini's taking the high road after Kirstie Alley called her a repulsive "bigot" on the radio -- telling TMZ, she only wishes the best for people ... even if they hate her back.

Leah was out in L.A. last night when we asked about Kirstie's recent Howard Stern interview ... when Kirstie bashed Leah for criticizing Scientology after leaving the Church.

Kirstie called Leah an anti-faith "bigot" who picks on Scientologists for no reason ... then said Leah was her "enemy."

Tom Cruise admitted that Katie Holmes left him partly because of his ties to Scientology.

Cruise sat for a deposition in his $50 million libel suit against a magazine company that claimed he abandoned his daughter Suri.

In the deposition ... Cruise squirmed in his chair as the lawyer for the magazine repeatedly asked if Katie fled their marriage because of the Church. Cruise hemmed and hawed, suggesting it wasn't true, and then the lawyer asked whether "Katie Holmes left you in part to protect Suri from Scientology."

Cruise answered: "Did she say that? That was one of the assertions, yes."

Cruise also admitted that Suri is NOT a member of Scientology anymore.

The story that triggered the lawsuit claimed Tom abandoned his daughter. In his depo, Cruise says for the period between June 18, 2012 and Thanksgiving, 2012, he estimates he only saw Suri 10 days. During one stretch ... Tom admits he didn't see his daughter for more than 100 days.

The lawyer for the magazine grilled Tom about his desire to see Suri. The lawyer pulled out aviation documents showing Tom flew from Pittsburgh to London on Oct. 15 for the International Association of Scientology convention. Tom returned to Pittsburgh the next day. Tom said it was very important to attend, and then the lawyer made it clear Tom never took such quick trips to see Suri.

And in another part of the deposition, the magazine's lawyer brought up the part of the story in which they claimed Suri was "upset and crying a lot" when Tom was absent. In the depo, Tom admits being absent, but adamantly denied Suri was upset.

Tom Cruise is declaring he's a damn good dad to Suri ... opening up for the first time about his divorce from Katie Holmes and how it affected his relationship with his daughter.

Cruise just filed docs in his $50 million lawsuit against the publisher of "Life & Style" and "In Touch" magazines for cover stories that claimed he "abandoned" Suri after divorcing Katie in June 2012.

In the docs, Cruise says ... "I have in no way cut Suri out of my life -- whether physically, emotionally, financially or otherwise."

He goes on to cite specific times he saw his daughter in person in the months following the divorce, and says ... "even during the times when I was working overseas and was not able to see Suri in person, we were (and continue to be) extremely close."

The docs are pretty revealing ... since Tom has said next to nothing publicly about the divorce from Katie.

Cruise admits he was busy shooting 2 movies when "In Touch" ran its headline, "Abandoned by Daddy" -- however he says, "As my numerous emails with Suri's mother during this time period demonstrate, I was a constant presence in Suri's life."

Tom's declaration continues ... "While I'm sure my daughter misses me when I am not with her (as I miss her), she is a very happy child, and we have a wonderful relationship and cheerful phone calls."

Leah Remini is going from Dianetics to disco ... TMZ has learned, the famous ex-Scientologist will appear in the upcoming season of "Dancing with the Stars" ... and Snooki will be making her post-pregnancy debut along with her.

Sources close to production tell us, the former "King of Queens" actress is on the show.

As we reported, Remini recently underwent a very public split from the Church of Scientology after raising questions about the disappearance of church leader David Miscavige's wife Shelly.

Remini filed a missing persons report regarding Shelly's disappearance in July, demanding answers, and the Church was NOT pleased ... ripping the actress for her wanton betrayal.

FYI, police claim they made contact with Shelly in the wake of Remini's report and determined Remini's concerns were "unfounded." Eerie.

In addition to Remini and Snooki, our sources say Elizabeth Berkley, Amber Riley from "Glee," and Christina Milian will also be on the show.

Famed ex-Scientologist Leah Remini was photographed on Friday, looking alive and well after she turned her back on the Church.

You'll recall, Remini left Scientology recently, then turned around and slapped the Church in the face by filing a missing persons report regarding the bizarre disappearance of Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige. The Church was not happy.

It's been a few days since the pic was taken, but as far as we know, she is still breathing.

If you ask the ShamWow guy, she might want to lay low for a while, maybe find herself a safe house, or a relative close by.

You don't attack the Church of Scientology and get away with it ... not by a long shot -- so says one famous ex-Scientologist Vince Offer (the ShamWow Guy), who tells TMZ, Leah Remini is lucky she's still alive.

Offer was out in L.A last night -- and it's clear he's still concerned about L. Ron Hubbard's followers after his highly-publicized split from the Church ten years ago ... because he was VERY hesitant to talk about Remini's situation.

You'll recall, the "King of Queens" actress recently left the Church, then filed a missing persons report regarding Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige. The Church was PISSED.

Offer called Remini's move "brave," but said he couldn't say much more because he values his life ... and he wasn't kidding. You have to see how scared this guy is.

Leah Remini is the new QUEEN of the ex-Scientologists -- according to two famous defectors ... because she had the iron gonads to stand up to the Church.

As you know ... Leah filed a missing person's report with the LAPD ... claiming Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige ... hadn't been seen for 6 years. Detectives found Shelly and determined she's fine.

Marc and Claire Headley -- two outspoken, former high-ranking Scientologists are praising Leah for her testicular fortitude. Claire tells us, "Shelly was seen for the first time in 7 years. At least we know she's alive."

Claire is skeptical that Shelly is exercising free will, and believes the outreach by Leah will show Shelly that people care about her "on the outside."