Tom Cruise and John Travolta showed up for Scientology's leader in Florida [CORRECTED]
CORRECTION: We believe the person we previously identified as Elisabeth Moss was in fact Scientology celebrity Nancy Cartwright. See below.
The Church of Scientology has posted its slide show from this year’s L. Ron Hubbard Birthday Event, and it contains some real surprises.
Hubbard, Scientology’s founder, was born on March 13, 1911, and his birthday is Scientology’s most holy day on its calendar. (Hubbard died in 1986.) To celebrate his 115th birthday this year, current leader David Miscavige held the Birthday Event at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida on Saturday, March 14.
We’re always curious about which of Scientology’s celebrities show up to this thing. Elisabeth Moss was in the front row in both 2024 and 2025. Would she be there this year? John Travolta has often showed up at the Birthday Event — he’s a local, living in Florida. And Tom Cruise has made it a few times. In 2019, in fact, we saw both Travolta and Cruise in the front row.
Well, after looking closely at the photos posted by Scientology, we’re confident that 2026 was a banner year for Miscavige, as all three two of his biggest celebrities — Tom Cruise and John Travolta , and Elisabeth Moss — were in the front row giving him a standing ovation!
Now, this isn’t something that Scientology necessarily wants the rest of the world to know, so the images of these celebs are not perfect. But we think they’re good enough to conclude that these three were in attendance, along with a lot of other familiar faces.
Let’s take a look.
First, here’s a good view of Travolta and Cruise. You can see that JT seems a bit concerned that a photographer is aiming a camera their way. (Click on the image to embiggen it.)
In the front row, in the foreground, we see megadonors Alan Atkinson-Baker and Craig Jensen (Alan’s wife Sheila is between them.) Next to Jensen is rapper Doug E. Fresh, then Bodhi and Jenna Elfman.
Travolta is next to her, then a woman we can’t make out, and then Tom Cruise. We believe it’s Scientology’s wealthiest donor Trish Duggan on the far side of Cruise and then a shorter Elisabeth Moss. CORRECTION: This person on the other side of Trish Duggan is wearing a Freedom Medal, which Elisabeth Moss does not have. We think this is, in fact, Simpsons actress Nancy Cartwright.
Here’s our best angle on Moss, from the stage. It’s not the sharpest shot, but we’re confident it’s her.
Note the Freedom medal on who we now believe is Nancy Cartwright, not Elisabeth Moss.
What are they cheering about? We posted the leaked audio from this event yesterday afternoon, along with a complete transcript.
Miscavige outlined several new projects for the gathered faithful. First, that a new shrine to Hubbard has been established, a villa at Las Palmas in the Canary Islands where he spent time in 1967 putting together the notorious “Operating Thetan Level Three,” which contains the wild story about Xenu the galactic overlord.
Hip, hip, hooray!
Winners of the annual Birthday Game were also announced. These are contests between Scientology facilities to see who can take the most money from suckers.
For the record, the winners were Bergamo, Italy for missions, Eastern Cape (South Africa) for Ideal Orgs, AOLA for advanced orgs, and Europe for CLOs.
But perhaps the most important announcement from the event, and certainly the creepiest, is the new reveal about an increased focus on children. Miscavige is really going big with it.
“Golden Age for the New Generation”
So Scientology’s biggest celebrities were on hand to cheer on Dave as he revealed this creepy new initiative to groom kids for Scientology.
And speaking of creepy, take another look at that image of JT and Cruise…
Who’s that in the row right behind them, the person we’ve circled?
That’s none other than notorious quack Dr. David Minkoff, who lost his medical license for a year after his involvement in the 1995 death of parishioner Lisa McPherson, and who is currently being sued for his involvement in the grisly 2022 death of OT Scientologist Whitney Mills. (And yes, his daughter happens to be handbag designer Rebecca Minkoff, who recently had a stint on Real Housewives of New York.)
Horrific text messages have been revealed in the Whitney Mills case, showing Minkoff telling her to handle her extreme mental distress with quack Scientology methods, but he’s certainly still in the church’s best standing if he gets to stand so close to Dave’s chief ornaments, Travolta and Cruise. Amazing.
Also in attendance were this couple in the lower left corner. That looked to us a lot like Dr. Eric Berg, the YouTube chiropractor.
We checked with Berg’s son, Ian Rafalko, and he confirmed that it is indeed his father, and the woman next to him is Ian’s mother.
We told Ian that this was the first time we’d spotted Berg at a big Scientology event.
“They specifically ask for seats that are not recorded by the cameras so you have to really look, it’s like Where’s Waldo,” Ian said.
Grant and Elena Cardone were in the front row, next to the Elfmans. We also spotted actor Jason Dohring, who was standing next to Berg in the second row.
All in all, a pretty impressive showing of celebrity power for a Birthday Event.
Miscavige may be facing numerous challenges as far as dwindling membership and recruiting woes. But he’s still wrangling his big donors and his important celebrities.
That’s three years in a row that Elisabeth Moss has showed up for Dave, giving him an ovation. It’s a big step up in involvement for her, and a story that all of the other news media is ignoring.
Cruise was also in the front row at the New Year’s Event in Los Angeles, and he flew his helicopter to the IAS Gala last October in England. We can’t remember the last time Tom showed up for all three of the big events consecutively like this — IAS, New Year’s and the Hubbard birthday.
And yet you will no doubt hear sooner or later from the tabloids that Tom is giving up on Scientology. When the tabs publish those stories, they never cite our evidence that he’s showing up at these events and is just as dedicated as ever.
JT, Cruise, and Moss, all showing up for Dave. Wow!
Tickets going fast!
Our Group Therapy listeners heard it first as we announced the big news: Patty Moher, Alex Barnes-Ross, and Phil Jones are organizing the return of HowdyCon!
It will take place from September 18-20 in New London, Connecticut, and we have a website. And tickets are now on sale!
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Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history
Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea
Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time
Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology
Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain
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Shakespeare: "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
What does Dave give these whales, worth so much time, effort and cash? How can they justify giving up family, friends? What the actual f?
He makes them feel that they signify something. That they are not idiots. That they are not walking shadows but immortals. That they can use their illusion (credit to Guns and Roses though he seemingly never wrote the song, just the album title) to cruise their delusions.
Wish I could tell them, in a way they'd understand, there are less expensive and more effective ways to find purpose in life. Volunteer at a homeless shelter or a food bank. Take care of your aging parents. Be a friend to a friend.
We're never going to save the world, it's too big for us. Save a neighbor.
A person can be a highly successful actor or business owner and still be a pathetic fool. Travolta, Cruise and others in the crowd have to know deep down how corrupt Miscavige and Scientology really is. They just look the other way.