Friday, March 17, 2006

Tom Cruise Blackmails Comedy Central Over Scientology South Park

More Hollywood hypocrisy. Freedom of expression is inviolate unless of course it happens to be their ox being gored.

Tom Cruise reportedly got Comedy Central to cancel Wednesday night's cablecast of the controversial "South Park" episode about Scientology by warning that he'd refuse to promote "Mission Impossible 3," reports today's Page Six.

Paramount, the film company who holds Cruise's contract, is counting on "MI3" to bring in blockbuster profits this summer, and Paramount is owned by parent company Viacom, which so happens to also own Comedy Central.

The "South Park" episode entitled, "Trapped in the Closet," takes jabs at Scientology and shows Cruise, John Travolta and R. Kelly (who is not a Scientologist, but has a song called "Trapped in the Closet") literally in a closet.

The episode, which first aired last November, was suppose to rerun on Wednesday night, but was mysteriously yanked at the last minute.

Hollywoodinterrupted.com reports that Cruise went straight to the top - to the execs at Viacom - and warned he'd boycott the promotion for "MI3" unless the "South Park" episode was pulled, reports Page Six.

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