TOM CRUISE - CRUISE VIDEOS WERE 'GOOD FOR SCIENTOLOGY'

Leaked videos of TOM CRUISE singing the praises of Scientology were good publicity for the controversial religion, church elders have confirmed. Footage of an energised Cruise promoting the religion found its way onto the internet last week (begs21Jan08), prompting an outpouring of criticism aimed at the star. But Scientology bosses insist the star's bizarre monologues, in which he referred to the faith as "a blast" and saluted a statue of founder L. Ron Hubbard boosted the church's profile. A spokesperson tells PageSix,com, "Having presented these selective and out of context excerpts with the intent of creating both controversy and ridicule resulted in people searching for Church of Scientology websites. "The clip on the internet was nine minutes long. It was edited to make Tom look really crazy." Last week, actress and fellow Scientologist, Kirstie Alley, came to Cruise's defence, claiming the video was never meant to be seen by the general public. She said, "Tom was using words meant for a Scientology audience. On the web, the video is take out of context. "It's like a rabbi addressing a Christian church, speaking in Hebrew. No one would understand him."