Tom Cruise on Jett Travolta's death and Scientology

Tom Cruise opened up about the death of John Travolta and Kelly Preston's son Jett Travolta, during a taping of "The View" Thursday morning.

During the taping of "The View" (it's set to air Friday), Barbara Walters talked to Tom about Jett Travolta's death last Friday from a seizure.

"You know, it's horrific," Tom told her. "You know, like, it's just horrific. Here's a man who … both of them, doting parents. Just wonderful people."

Tom could not be at his good friend's funeral service for Jett today because he was taping "The View." Oprah won't be there either, according to Access Hollywood.

Barbara mentioned criticisms of Scientology and its role in the Jett's death.

"There has been criticism and there's so much misinformation and one of the things that has been said ...is that in your religion, you don't take unnecessarily ... member of your family or anyone to a doctor. Is that the case?" Barbara asked.

"That's not true. That's just not true," Tom replied. "It's actually just the opposite, where you — they say, 'Look, get your physical, get medication, get your physical illnesses handled.' It's actually the exact opposite."

Moments later, Tom seemed at a loss of words.

"Look ... you all know him and you see him and Kelly ... It's just horrible," Tom said. "I remember Jett when he was born and I saw him when he was a few months old and John just adored him. Both of his children. And Kelly. So it's just something that, you know, I don’t have the words for.”

Click here to watch the video on TMZ.

Related Travolta posts:

Hearse decoy, Jett Travolta cremated.

Who is Jett Travolta's male nanny, Jeff Kathrein?

John's brother, autism activist Joey Travolta, thought Jett had autism

Family lawyers: Jett's anti-seizure meds stopped working

John Travolta's public statement about Jett

Scientology critics cite 2007 blog about Jett's impending death

Family lawyers say Jett's death caused by head trauma

John Travolta's son, Jett, 16, dies in the Bahamas

Photo: Tom Cruise and Matt Lauer make up at Lauer's recent Friars Roast in New York City. WireImage

Comments

[Eric]

What is horrific is that Travolta's stupid and irrational beliefs resulted in the death of his son. In another country, where celebrity is less lauded, social services would have moved in to remove the remaining of this irresponsible idiot. Let's be straight here, Scientology killed Jett Travolta.

[Arye (Leslie) Michael Bender]

The interviewer should have asked what '...get your physical illnesses handled.' actually means. Scientology instructs that the ONLY way to cure physical and mental ills is through 'auditing'. Auditing is the truth or dare game played with a low grade lie detector (E-meter) at an increasingly expensive hourly rate. The business posing as religion instills the belief that if auditing didn't find the solution, you need more auditing.

[Lauren]

Yes, why doesn't the cult elaborate a bit more on what it views as legitimate "physical" illness?
They call this kind of word play "acceptable truths" and this form of deceptive behavior is part of the cult's practice.
They can deny it all they want, but their "secret scripture" is now available to all for research purposes.

[Bruce]

Eric said, "What is horrific is that Travolta's stupid and irrational beliefs resulted in the death of his son."
Eric, I urge you to have some respect for the Travoltas and their beliefs.
Are the beliefs of Scientologists any more irrational than the beliefs of Christians or Muslims? Is it rational to believe the fairy tales of the Bible? What about the sick kids who die because their parents believe that prayers to Jesus will cure them? Should we go after all the Christians who believe in faith healing? Please show some respect and stop the hate. Leave the Travoltas alone at this horrible time in their lives.

[JoeT]

We won't be given all the facts to determine if Travolta's beliefs in Scientology led or contributed to his son's death. However, I know but cannot prove the national Scientology organization caused the death, if not murdered, my best friends father in Texas in the early sixties. He had gone to Washington to meet with Scientology leaders to start the first Scientology organization headquartered in Texas. 2 Days after he returned, he went missing. 1 day later he was found dead in his car a few miles away from his home. People who fall into total belief in any religion seem to be prone to leaving their brains and what little good sense they had behind.

[gh]

Such a sad loss of a child. Anyone who's interested in learning about Scientology should check out: www.xenu.net
and
theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com

[John]

For Jett Travolta to be properly diagnosed a as autistic, he would've had to see psychiatrists or psychological therapists, this obviously did not happen. Scientology is a dangerous cult that destroys lives. Using mind-control techniques such as lie-detectors, interrogation, blackmail and “disconnection” (shunning of loved ones), Scientology strips people of money and autonomy. Ruthlessly attacking all perceived enemies with its Fair Game Policy, Scientology intimidates witnesses into silence. At one point Hubbard was a follower of Demonologist, Aleister Crowley. Start your education at xenu.net.

[Joseph Godfrey]

I watched the video and PHYSICAL is always the keyword for every Scientologist making news statements. Why doesn't the media bring up the MENTAL illness issues here ? It's like you're all too scared to say anything and all of these interviews look like a circus act.

"Roll over NBC."
"Jump through the hoop, CBS."
"Speak ABC, speak. God dog."

Jett Travolta had AUTISM. John Travolta's brother Joey believed it, John's own doctor Wecht believed it, many more saw it, I saw it - but nobody had Jett Travolta tested for it because Scientology persecutes the mental health field.

[tomk]

Do the Travoltas always vacation with a couple of their lawyers in tow? You know, just in case something bad happens, like a child dying as a result of his parents denying him proper medical treatment on account of their Scientology beliefs?

This tragedy should be investigated properly to allay fears that the rich can get away with, well, negligent homicide.

[xenulives]

cruise knows $cientology is $crewed. the evidence is piling up. check this link out:

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/1880

[Jo]

In my twenties I did some Scientology courses. They were awesome. Have any of you even picked up a Scientology or Dianetics book or are you just mimicking ridiculous comments of a few others? Your ignorant, uneducated comments say a lot about your lack of knowledge of this religion. I'm certainly not a pro, but literally none of your so-called knowledge is true. Oh, but wait..., let me quote some Jack Nicholson here: "You can't HANDLE the truth!" No one in Scientology will tell you that you can't or shouldn't see a doctor. Who fabricated that fable? You're a sad bunch when you try to kick someone when they're down. They just lost their son for god's sake!

[Cyril Wecht]

John Travolta always maintained his son Jett had Kawasaki Syndrome (an illness that swells blood vessels to the heart, causing damage).

I'll ignore how KS doesn't cause seizures and continue with my point.

In a CNN interview; John stated that Jett was on Depakote for a while, that it reduced his seizures, but eventually stopped working.

John's lawyer was quoted to say that the Depakote was causing organ damage and the family (under advice from a neurosurgeon) stopped giving it to him.

Depakote can cause raised enzyme levels in the liver leading to toxicity, it's why it requires constant monitoring which the Travolta family was doing.

Some years ago - Kelly Preston told Montel Williams that Jett went through the (sauna-based) Scientology Detox Program, because they believed pesticides, or fertilizers or carpet cleaner was to blame for the KS.

They said it really helped Jett.

Tommy Davis confirmed that in a recent interview.

Now - I know this because I'm a physician, but I assumed it common knowledge that people with heart damage must stay out of hot tubes, saunas, etc - anything with extreme temperature differences, because it can kill them.

I know this wouldn't attribute to Jett's death, but still - this is where Scientology's ignorance of science & medicine rears its ugly head: If Jett Travolta had KS, then putting him in a high-temperature sauna would be the dumbest thing to do.

My view here is that the Church of Scientology is going to hang John Travolta out to dry. Because so much of their policies have effected Jett Travolta's life ... they're going to point blame away from themselves.

[hs]

I can't help but wonder what the hostility is tword John or Scientology. I am not a scientologist but I would bet the accusations made against the church of Scientology could and has been made againts almost every organization out there, even the government of the United States! So many people angry that a child died who was not recieving their (The angry people) idea of proper medical care. Is that really any different than Scientologists being outraged that so many children have died under medical care by negligence or drug influenced suicide? No system is completely free from tragedy. It's easy to criticise someone else for chooseing an alternative route so long as the route you have chosen works for you. But keep in mind many people have chosen the most common suggested route to treatment and suffered a tragedy or lost a loved one as a result. This type of tragedy should not be used to bash an institution unless you are going to be
completely fair and bash every institution with equal animocity that has ever had a child die because an idea or product was released by it...Includeing the thousands who died in Iraq because some of you complainers were foolish enough to believe Saddam harbored weapons of mass destruction. That puts you in the same boat you put John in...GUILTY for believing nonsense.

[Mest]

People are hostile to Scientology because it is an irressponsiple cult that hurts people and destroys lives. Thousands of people have been hurt by Scientology and watched their families and loved ones destroyed by it. Scientology is psychologically and physically abusive, as exemplified by their Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF) where Prison camps are run for "Sea Org" members in Los Angeles, Clearwater FL, Copenhagen and other sites. Scientology front groups like Narconon prey on people who have fallen through the cracks of society. Scientology is a brainwashing cult that needs to be stopped.