(Photo: Filmmagic)

The March 9 issue of Rolling Stone includes a piece called “Inside Scientology,” which reports on how “the church has a storied reputation for squelching its critics through litigation, and, according to some reports, intimidation.” Sources at Wenner Media, which publishes Rolling Stone, say they know all about it. Scientologist Tom Cruise was supposed to appear on the cover of Men’s Journal, another Jann Wenner publication. According to sources, Cruise wanted the Rolling Stone story killed, and, when Wenner’s team said no, Cruise bailed on Men’s Journal’s May cover before the writer (a freelancer named Kate Rockland) even got to him. Wenner Media didn’t return calls, but Cruise’s camp, reached via e-mail, was forthright about its issues with Wenner’s magazines. “We were never confirmed to be the cover, we were in discussions,” says representative Arnold Robinson. As to whether the Rolling Stone story was the deal-breaker, he would only say: “We were aware of it.”

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• Archive: “Intelligencer”
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• Table of Contents: March 13, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!