FALSE CLAIMS

Scientology: Wife Audition ‘Hogwash’

Pushes back against Vanity Fair story.

The Church of Scientology, which reentered the spotlight this year amidst the virtually epochal divorce of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes (some say), has refuted claims made in a new Vanity Fair story that the enigmatic religion carried out an elaborate wife-screening process for top celeb devotee Cruise. “The entire story is hogwash,” a Scientology rep told Us Weekly. “There was no project, secret or otherwise, ever conducted by the church to find a bride (audition or otherwise) for any member of the church.” The magazine story alleges that the church launched an extensive search to find a mate for Cruise after his divorce from Nicole Kidman.