A former Scientologist says this is how Tom Cruise's kids were turned against Nicole Kidman
- Sam Domingo, a former Church of Scientology member, said she knows how Tom Cruise's children were made to hate their mother Nicole Kidman after their public divorce in 2001.
- In an interview with the Daily Mail, Domingo says she was close with Cruise and his family while she was a part of the Church.
- She says Isabella and Connor Cruise were "isolated" and "indoctrinated" to hate their mother.
- A representative for Scientology told INSIDER that the Daily Mail article is "completely ludicrous."
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Former Church of Scientology member Sam Domingo said she knows how Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's adopted children, Connor and Isabella, were turned against their mother after their parents divorced in 2001.
"I know what techniques [the Church of Scientology] used," Domingo said during an interview with the Daily Mail.
"I know what the second-in-command at the time Marty Rathbun did, he was so tough on them," she continued. "The Cruise kids had no choice. After the divorce, they were indoctrinated into Scientology and very much isolated."
Read more: 20 celebrities who have been linked to Scientology
Domingo, who's the daughter-in-law of famous opera singer Plácido Domingo, was a 22-year member of the Church along with her husband and children before leaving the organization in 2009.
She says she was close with Cruise and his sisters, and as such, was able to witness firsthand the treatment of Connor and Isabella Cruise after their parents' divorce.
Per Domingo, Connor and Isabella were just ordinary children before Cruise and Kidman separated.
But after the split, she said the children lived in a "boot camp" experience isolated from other children at the center. Domingo says Rathbun (who's since left Scientology) was in charge of Connor and Isabella's indoctrination into the faith.
According to Domingo, this meant that the Cruise children were led to believe that their mother should be ex-communicated from the Church, and should be thought of as a "suppressive person," a term used in the organization to describe those whose actions or beliefs endanger other members' abilities to follow church doctrine.
Read more: How Tom Cruise's family labeled Nicole Kidman an enemy of Scientology, according to Leah Remini
Domingo says she was moved to speak out against Cruise and the Church after seeing 26-year-old Isabella featured in a recent Scientology promotion in London.
"I feel sorry for that kid," Domingo said.
"Isabella's being used for PR, she's Tom Cruise's kid, it's not fair what they're doing to her and Connor," Domingo told the Daily Mail.
"They have no choice but to be the poster kids of Scientology now," she said.
Kidman previously spoke about her relationship with Connor and Isabella to Vanity Fair in November 2018.
"They have made choices to be Scientologists, and, as a mother, it's my job to love them," she said to the magazine. "And I am an example of that tolerance and that's what I believe — that no matter what your child does, the child has love and the child has to know there is available love and I'm open here."
The actress also said that Connor and Isabella are "adults" who can "make their own decisions."
A representative for Scientology told INSIDER that the Daily Mail article is "completely ludicrous" and sent us the following statement:
"The absurd claims from this individual, who has been gone from the Church for a decade, are just more invented gossip usually fed to the tabloids by self-promoting parasites who use bigotry and false allegations about the Church and its members to generate hate and even violence."
A spokesperson for the Church also issued a full denial of Domingo's claims to the Daily Mail for their article.
Representatives for Kidman and Cruise didn't immediately respond to INSIDER's requests for comment.
- Read more:
- Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's daughter says Scientology was the 'missing piece' that helped her make sense of her life
- 'He's diabolical': Leah Remini says Scientology poster boy Tom Cruise is not a good person
- 10 celebrities who have reportedly left Scientology
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