Tom Cruise‘s fellow Scientologists blared bagpipe music at protesters as they looked to drown them out them as the Hollywood star jetted in to their UK headquarters.
The actor, 63, arrived at last week’s Church of Scientology annual Sussex fundraiser by helicopter.
The event in East Grinstead, which was attended by around 7,000 Scientologists from across the globe, angered locals who took part in demonstrations against the controversial church.
In a bid to drown out the protesters, who were returning for the third consecutive year, the church played loud bagpipe music on a large speaker.
One resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, described the event as ‘very disruptive’.
He said: ‘For six to eight weeks they were laying down pallets in the field to make a car park, so we had the disruption and noise of that, with lorry after lorry coming.
‘Then they made all the neighbours listen to bagpipe music on a loop all day.
‘In the evening, they had two generators to power floodlights in the car park, and we could hear the generator no more than 60 yards from our back door.
Tom Cruise ‘s fellow Scientologists blared bagpipe music at protesters as they looked to drown them out them as the Hollywood star jetted in to their UK headquarters
The event, which took place at the Church of Scientology’s UK Headquarters in East Grinstead was met by protesters
‘One didn’t go off until 1am and the second generator stayed on all night, so all night an empty car park was lit up.
‘I’m tolerant – I don’t have religion but don’t object to others having it.
‘Scientology say they’ve cleaned up their act, but they still have the same boss, and I don’t really believe they have changed their spots.’
Another resident said: It’s an endless stream of people and so much noise — the infrastructure isn’t built for it so it ends up being chaos.
‘Then you’ve got Tom flying over in his chopper and it causes a right old racket.
‘To top things off, a minibus ended up having an accident with another driver, which meant one of the roads ended up being closed.’
The church made a request for a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in July 2024, saying protests held outside its premises caused ‘harassment, disturbance and alarm’ to its members.
Mid Sussex District Council’s cabinet was due to make a decision – recommended for refusal – on June 30, before the church withdrew the application.
A spokesman for the Church of Scientology in the UK said: ‘The Church of Scientology’s annual celebration at Saint Hill, East Grinstead drew over 7,000 attendees from across the UK and around the world.
‘The weekend featured traditional bagpipe performances, community festivities, and a gala charity concert supporting local causes.
‘The event was a resounding success, generating significant cultural and economic benefits for the area and warmly welcomed by residents.’
The Scientology event took place days before the Oscar nominee was seen standing next to Emilia Jones at the London premiere of The Running Man
The event came days before the actor was spotted out in London following the end of his nine-month romance to ex-girlfriend Ana De Armas.
The 63-year-old was at the London premiere of The Running Man with his Top Gun: Maverick costar Glen Powell.
In one of the images from the event, the Oscar nominee is seen standing next to a Emilia Jones at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square theater.
The actress, 23, stars in Powell’s Running Man costar, and is best known for her lead role as a child of deaf adults in the 2021 drama film CODA as well as for starring in the series Locke & Key.
