The niece of Scientology's leader says she supports Katie Holmes for not wanting to raise her daughter in the controversial church. INSIDE EDITION has the details.
Katie Holmes is doing the right thing, according to a woman whose uncle is the leader of the controversial Church of Scientology.
Jenna Miscavige is the niece of Scientology leader David Miscavige, Tom Cruise's best friend.
On the website ExScientologyKids.com, Miscavige wrote, "I was allowed to see my parents only once a week at best, sometimes not for years. We got a lousy education from unqualified teachers, forced labor, long hours, forced confessions."
In a message directed at Holmes, she wrote, "As a mother myself, I offer my support to Katie, and wish for her all of the strength she will need to do what is best for her and her daughter."
Miscavige has been an outspoken critic of the church, as she told INSIDE EDITION's Les Trent in 2008.
In the interview, Trent asked Miscavige, "You are the niece of the leader of Scientology and you're speaking out against it. Why?"
"Because I don't like some of the things that happened to me when I was there," she replied.
Miscavige said when she was just 2-years-old she was placed in a dormitory with other Scientologist kids, torn away from their parents.
"I only saw them once a year, if I was lucky," she said.
"So family is not that important?" Trent asked.
"Right," said Miscavige.
The church denies it separates families, but Miscavige said not to believe it.
She told INSIDE EDITION a chilling story about what life was like as a child growing up in Scientology, saying, "When I was 12, I was only going to school once a week."
"What were you doing the rest of the time?" Asked Trent.
"I was working from 9 in the morning until 12 at night," Miscavige replied.
"At the age of 12?" Trent Asked.
"Yes," said Miscavige.
Many critics of Scientology are wondering whether Katie Holmes' divorce action will end with her being labeled an ‘SP', what Scientologists call a Suppressive Person, an enemy of Scientology.
In a video on the internet, Tom Cruise spoke dismissively about SP's. Laughing, he said, "Have you met an SP? Years from now they'll say 'Wow, SP's—they'll just have to read about them in the history books,' you know?"
Trent asked Miscavige, "What do you think the effect of this interview is going to be?"
"Well, they're going to think that I'm a bad person for sure," she replied.
