Confessional Files

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Scientology, Accused of Snooping on Celebs, Lashes Out at Anderson Cooper

Cult leaders are worried about defector Amy Scobee's new book, out later this month, which alleges that church leaders snoop in celebrity files for fun. Responding, in the Daily News, spokesman Tommy Davis also spared some ire for Anderson Cooper.

The story, in the Rush and Molloy gossip column [see below], alleges that the 'church' leader David Miscavige (pictured here and always referred to by members, somewhat creepily as 'Mr David Miscavige') snooped through files of dirt he keeps on celebrities. Apparently he giggled like a kid at the revelations in Lisa Marie Presley's dossier.

Scobee, via Rush and Molloy, also claims that:

• Miscavige prides himself on having memorized "the sexual irregularities of practically every staff member" at one facility.
• He also once dressed his dog, Jellie, in an officer's uniform because he felt that the beagle could do a better job than his staff. They had to salute the dog.
• Officials question Scientologist staff members who work for celebrities to check they are not deviating from the cult's moral code.

Responding to the claims, creepy church spokesperson Tommy Davis said he's "fed up" with all the coverage church defectors get, including a recent investigation on Anderson Cooper 360. "[Our members] are going to Haiti," he told the Daily News, "spending millions to charter planes to fly in supplies and doctors and nurses," says Davis. "All the while Anderson Cooper is in his designer T-shirts, just standing around, while we're helping people for real."

Of course it's not that simple. The Scientologists 'help' often involves trying to heal people through touch. Accounts we have heard imply that they were, when the earthquake struck, dangerously unprepared. Our source said at the time:

...they brought the weirdness of touch healing into a very superstitious society. They'd leave the tent and come into the general hospital downtown, and try healing people. One of the doctors and one of the nurses told me that the wounded started coming to them to tell them they didn't want to be treated by the people in the yellow shirts.

One nurse told me that the Scientologists actually caused harm - they gave food to people who were scheduled to go into surgery. That then led to complications in the operating theater.

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I only hope Anderson doesn't get caught in the crossfire. If the guys at Scientology are looking into their members' confidential files, they could very easily find some information about Anderson, like, he being gay, and make it available to all the papers...

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Scientology leader David Miscavige accused of snooping in secret celeb confessional files

Rush & Molloy

Sunday, May 2nd 2010, 10:57 AM

Scientology leader David Miscavige (l.) is being accused of gossiping about Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson after snooping in her confidential confessional file.

Marcou/Getty, Matthews/AP



The Church of Scientology is bringing down the hammer on a renegade member who alleges leader David Miscavige loves to gossip about his star parishioners.

Former high-ranking member Amy Scobee claims in her just-out book, "Scientology: Abuse at the Top," that Miscavige and other officials "snooped" in confidential confessional files - a charge vehemently denied by the church, whose believers include Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, John Travolta, Kelly Preston and Kirstie Alley.

Scobee writes that she was in the office of top exec Marc Yager when Miscavige called to brief him on "the latest" about "a female celebrity connected with Michael Jackson."

"Yager kept saying, 'No way, really? That's completely out of control!' ... [They were] giggling like little elementary school kids."

"According to a source, Scobee is referring to Jackson's former wife Lisa Marie Presley. In her book, she also alleges:

Miscavige "is known to pride himself on having memorized the sexual irregularities of practically every staff member" at one church facility - sometimes teasing them about their kinks in front of others.

Officials privately grilled church members who work for celeb Scientologists to check whether the celebs were "deviating" from "Scientology's moral code."

Miscavige once dressed his dog, Jellie, in an officer's uniform to make the point that Jellie could do a better job than staffers - who were required to salute the beagle.

Church execs panicked when a robber stole a briefcase containing sensitive information about a well-known church official who'd video­taped "himself having sex with several other men." A homeless man finally turned in the briefcase.

Church spokesman Tommy Davis brands all of Scobee's claims as "fiction." He insists Miscavige's purported dish session "never happened. Nobody in the church has ever violated the priest-penitent privilege. ... [Confessional files] are held in the strictest confidence."

Davis says the church is "preparing a lawsuit" against Scobee, based on the "disgusting allegations" in her self-published book.

Scobee was "expelled" after she admitted to "five affairs outside of wedlock" - a violation of her ecclesiastical vows - including one with "a penitent she was supposed to be ministering to," Davis claimed.

Scobee, who is still married to that "penitent," argues that Davis "didn't see what I saw. I wanted to leave. They tried to get me to stay. If confessionals are never violated, what's Tommy doing talking about my sex life? "

Scobee has already been put on notice by Cruise's lawyer, Bert Fields, for a "defamatory" claim that Miscavige's wife once told her the actor had a "drug history."

Davis adds that he's "fed up" with the airtime disgruntled defectors have been getting, especially in a recent Anderson Cooper investigation on CNN.

"[Our members] are going to Haiti, spending millions to charter planes to fly in supplies and doctors and nurses," says Davis. "All the while Anderson Cooper is in his designer T-shirts, just standing around, while we're helping people for real."