Conspiracy theories — including two involving TOM CRUISE — just bubbled up like swamp gas in Hollywood! A huge controversy exploded when thousands of angry American Idol fans besieged Fox with complaints that when they phoned in to vote for CHRIS DAUGHTRY, they heard KATHARINE MCPHEE’s voice simper: “Thanks for voting for me.”
An online petition from 16,000 fans demands a recount!… One hot rumor stalking Tom Cruise is that Scientologists are secretly propping up their under-the-gun poster boy with dirty tricks. At Hollywood’s ArcLight movie theater — just down the street from the Scientology center — insiders reported that admitted Scientologists were snapping up M:I:3 tickets in blocks as high as 700!… And in a déjà vu of Idol vote-tweaking, Parade magazine ran a poll asking whether Tom’s wacko couch-jumping/female-bashing is responsible for his PR problems, or is the press to blame? The majority picked the press… but Parade‘s since discovered that more than 14,000 of 18,000-plus votes cast in the poll were generated by (are you listening, L. RON HUBBARD?) just 10 computers!
