Jenny McCarthy speaks out: Did Tom Cruise try to lure her and Jim Carrey into Scientology?

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They sat directly across from the bride and groom at the rehearsal dinner, a baby was being passed around – and in the middle of it all, Tom Cruise allegedly launched an attempt to recruit her and Jim Carrey for Scientology. That's the claim made by 53-year-old host Jenny McCarthy in the latest episode of her podcast "The Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg Show." For the occasion, she invited Anne Gollert Hill as a guest – a woman who knows firsthand: Hill is herself a former member of the Church of Scientology.

Setting for the scene she describes: the rehearsal dinner for Cruise and Katie Holmes' wedding in 2006. McCarthy and Carrey, a couple at the time, had been seated directly across from the bride and groom. What she recounts about that evening reads like a glimpse behind the curtain of the organization.

The scene at the table: "I got the Scientology stare"

During dinner, a nanny brought Suri – Cruise and Holmes' daughter, who is now 20 – who was just a few weeks old, over to the table. McCarthy, who describes herself as a "baby person," asked if she could hold the baby. Her description of the reaction on the podcast: "It looked like in 'Rosemary's Baby' … I got the Scientology stare." The entire table had stared at her.

Holmes then "slowly" passed Suri over to her. McCarthy said "Hi, baby" in a monotone voice and immediately handed the child back – "and everyone kept talking as if nothing had happened." Her takeaway on the podcast: "I just thought: OK, I'm now in the belly of the beast."

David Miscavige as best man – and McCarthy's cheeky reaction

On that occasion, Cruise also introduced her to David Miscavige – the then and current head of the Church of Scientology and his best man. McCarthy says about her spontaneous reaction: "I said: 'Ha ha, you were chosen. Congratulations.' – which sounded dismissive." Miscavige "didn't like" it, Cruise laughed to "smooth over the awkward moment."

The Aspen invitation and Carrey's distrust

Once, Cruise also invited McCarthy and Carrey to his Aspen estate. But Carrey didn't come along because he feared they would try to "lure [them] in" there – literally: "try to lure [them] in." Carrey's distrust, looking back at the rehearsal dinner scene, doesn't seem entirely unfounded.

Holmes "like a deer in the headlights"

Katie Holmes also comes up extensively in the episode. McCarthy says Holmes "looked like a deer in the headlights" during her marriage to Cruise. She would repeatedly pull the actress aside at events to ask if everything was alright. "During the wedding she still seemed like Katie, but over the course of the marriage, there seemed to be a change in her," McCarthy says. "The contrast between Katie during that time and Tom's world was very stark."

What remains unanswered – and where you can read more

What exactly Cruise is alleged to have offered McCarthy and Carrey at the time, and how the friendship between McCarthy and the Hollywood star ended – both Page Six and Just Jared remain silent on that. Their reports are based solely on McCarthy's account on the podcast; they provide no independent evidence. McCarthy and Carrey were a couple from 2005 to 2010 and, according to the reports, remain close to this day. McCarthy married Donnie Wahlberg in 2014; Carrey married his long-time partner Min Ah earlier this month. Cruise and Holmes divorced in 2012; according to Just Jared, Holmes is currently being linked to artist Jason Bard Yarmosky.

Those who want to dig deeper can find the original reports at Just Jared and Page Six.