An Australian TV show got an unprecedented look inside the Church of Scientology's new $80 million headquarters in Clearwater, Florida. INSIDE EDITION has the details.
The controversial Church of Scientology is under fire again after a published report in The New Yorker magazine claimed the FBI is investigating possible labor practice violations within the church. Now the unusually reclusive organization has thrown open the doors of its headquarters in Florida.
The Australian TV show Today Tonight was given unprecedented access to the Church of Scientology's new world headquarters. The massive $80 million facility in Clearwater, Florida looks like a gorgeous hotel. It has an ornate ballroom complete with an oval dance floor.
There is even a five-star Scientologist hotel with a gorgeous marble lobby next door.
The show got the exclusive peek inside the secretive world of Scientology just after The New Yorker published an explosive article by author Lawrence Wright.
The article makes the shocking allegation that some Scientologists were ordered to customize Tom Cruise's motorcycles for a meager wage.
Former Scientologist John Brousseau claims he was paid just $50 a week to plate Cruise's motorcycles with brushed nickel and paint them candy apple red. The bikes he claims he worked on look just like the one Cruise rode at the premiere of War of the Worlds, with Katie Holmes on the back.
Brousseau also says he worked on Cruise's airplane hanger, and built him a customized SUV.
Last year, INSIDE EDITION spoke with Marc Headley, who had defected from the church. He said he worked for the church for 50 cents an hour.
"I worked there for 15 years and my Social Security statement shows that I earned a total of $26,000 for the 15-year period that I worked there," Headley told INSIDE EDITION's Jim Moret.
The Church and Tom Cruise deny those allegations and Scientologist spokesman Tommy Davis denies the claims made in The New Yorker article and said in a statement:
"The article is little more than a regurgitation of old allegations that have long been disproved."
The Church of Scientology says it is not aware of any FBI investigation and does not believe one exists.
