TOM CRUISE - MORTON REFUSED TO BE BULLIED BY CRUISE

TOM CRUISE biographer ANDREW MORTON refused to be bullied out of publishing his expose on the actor - despite warnings from his entourage the book would ruin him. Morton claims he was intimidated by the Church Of Scientology - of which Cruise is a leading member - as well as the actor's legal team. He was also warned of the plight of other writers who had attempted to take on the star and ruined their careers in the process. But the Brit insists it was nothing compared to the pressure put on him ahead of his biography on Diana, Princess Of Wales. He tells the New York Post, "Was I hassled? Yes. Cruise's lawyer Bert Fields sent his usual routine hostile letter. It's standard whenever anyone's investigating Tom. It always says if you say he's gay we'll sue. "Years back, one journalist started checking around, and Cruise's then PR sent word if she continued she'd never ever get another celebrity interview. And she didn't. "However, I've already been terrorised by the best. Besides Brit tabloids who tried to blackmail my research, Diana brought me the full weight of the entire royal establishment. They were rabid dogs. Threatening me with the Tower Of London. "But I wasn't worried about losing any career job. They couldn't use pressure to fire me because I'm a free agent." Morton adds that Cruise should be grateful his book killed the gay rumours that have plagued the star throughout his career: "Actually, with me saying in the book that he's always had women in his life and that he's not gay, instead of hassling me, his lawyers should be sending me cases of whiskey."