The actor Tom Cruise tried to recruit the soccer player David Beckham, as well as many other well-known faces, to nurture new faithful to the controversial Church of Scientology, that kind of hybrid between religious faith and devotion to the empirical that has been described as a sect due to its secrecy and the absolute dedication to which its faithful are subjected.
That is what emerges from a new book that delves into the ins and outs of the organization, written by none other than Mike Rinder, who was in high charge of this cult.
In ‘A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology’, the author not only lists the endless abuses of authority that are part of the very nature of the institution, or his decision to escape from that particular ecosystem, but also details the public image strategy developed by his acolytes to popularize his beliefs among the citizenry.
In the play, Rinder claims that Victoria Beckham was also tempted by Tom Cruise to join the ranks of the controversial church. To persuade her famous husband David, a former player for Real Madrid and Manchester United, the Hollywood star would have promised him that he would promote the construction of a professional soccer field so that he could train normally: all this in the headquarters that the entity has in California.
“Tom did everything in his power to attract celebrities, beyond those he worked with. Perhaps the most famous were David and Victoria Beckham”, says Rinder in an excerpt from his volume.
“Although it never happened in the end, it is said that the stadium began to be built in Gold [as it is called the California base of operations] and a person in charge of his care was chosen. It was going to be built for the sole purpose of Tom being able to convince his friend David to visit them more often,” he adds.
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