Tom Cruise's Dedication To Scientology Drew Him Away From Nicole Kidman, Claims Book

A new book has shed light on how Tom Cruise's dedication to Scientology led him away from his ex-wife Nicole Kidman.

"A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology" claimed that Scientology instilled it in Cruise that Kidman was a "negative influence" in his life, resulting in a distance between the pair.

In his book, former high-ranking church officer Mike Rinder has maintained that Cruise was already starting to distance himself from Scientology while filming "Eyes Wide Shut" with Kidman in 1997 when top church officer Marty Rathbun was sent to the U.K. to "audit" the actor. In Scientology, this process involves walking the person through events in his life to dismiss negativity and reach a level of "clear."

Rinder further claimed that following the audit, Cruise started to rekindle his commitment to the world of Scientology. However, it came at the expense of his marriage to Kidman.

According to Rinder, the church was feeling "threatened" by Kidman's influence over Cruise, who was the most prominent celebrity at the time. "Rathbun worked with Bert Fields to hire infamous PI Anthony Pellicano to spy on Nicole and tap her phone," he revealed. Cruise also allegedly tried to convert Kidman to Scientology but the latter constantly refused. This played a major role in the couple's eventual divorce in 2001.

Rinder also contended that Scientology turned Cruise and Kidman's two adopted children against the latter by teaching them about "Suppressive Persons" by L. Ron Hubbard. It describes a "suppressive person" as someone who is an enemy of the church and must, therefore, be silenced or destroyed.

The teaching allegedly held sway over the children to the extent that they started calling Kidman an "SP." This claim was later corroborated by church defector Leah Remini, who shared an account of her brief meeting with Cruise and Kidman's children in her 2016 book "Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology."

In the book, Remini also claimed that when she shared a shuttle with the kids after Cruise's wedding to Katie Holmes in 2006, she asked them if they were still seeing their mother. "Not if I have a choice," she quoted one of the kids as saying. "Our mom is a f***ing SP."