Celebrity Pundit Rupert Murdoch Weighs in on Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes Split - Vanity Fair

When it was announced that Katie Holmes had filed for divorce from Tom Cruise on Friday, a single question loomed at the forefront of the American psyche: "But what does Rupert Murdoch think of the TomKat split?" On Sunday, taking a breather from slagging The New York Times and Mitt Romney on Twitter, Murdoch provided his hotly anticipated answer: "Scientology back in news. Very weird cult, but big, big money involved with Tom Cruise either number two or three in hiearchy [sic]."

Disappointingly, the reaction was centered more on religion, which, some say, is the primary irreconcilable difference between the Hollywood couple, than the divorce itself. In a prophetic flourish, Murdoch added, "Watch Katie Holmes and Scientology story develop. Something creepy, maybe even evil, about these people." Perhaps an ironic observation for a person whom some might call "creepy, maybe even evil" himself, considering how his News Corp. subsidiary, News of the World, reportedly hacked the phones of celebrities, politicians, members of the British royal family, relatives of deceased British soldiers, victims of the 7/7 London bombings, and murdered English school girl Milly Dowler? Noting this irony, several Twitter users quickly retorted, "you make scientology seem sane" and "cm'on like you don't helm the biggest and most influential cult ever."

Murdoch later acknowledged this backlash, tweeting, "Since Scientology tweet hundreds of attacks. Expect they will increase and get worse and maybe threatening. Still stick to my story."

And then everyone waited for Murdoch to weigh in on Adele's pregnancy and Alec Baldwin's second marriage.