BY PAM LOBLEY

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

NOW THAT'S FUNNY

As news broke of the Katie Holmes/Tom Cruise split, Rupert Murdoch tweeted his thoughts on the matter. He advises us to “Watch Katie Holmes and Scientology story develop. Something creepy, maybe even evil, about these people.”

He knows this because he’s been hacking into their phones for years.

Murdoch’s tweets caused a big uproar on Twitter. He tweeted that he had received hundreds of attacks since he first opined that Scientology was a weird cult, with big money behind it, and that Tom Cruise was very high up (number 2 or 3) in the hierarchy.

Hmm … a weird, influential organization with big money behind it. Are we talking about Scientology or News Corp.?

Tom Cruise is in Iceland filming a movie. He has not rushed back to Katie’s side to try to win her back. Katie and the couple’s daughter, Suri, are in their new apartment in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The Daily News reports that Katie and Suri were being watched by five menacing men in an SUV, perhaps from the Church of Scientology. The Church denies that they have sent anyone to follow or survey Ms. Holmes.

TMZ has also reported that Katie filed for divorce because Tom wanted to send Suri away to Sea Organization, a strict, hardcore Scientology school. Katie is asking for sole custody of Suri, presumably to save her from this fate.

Once Katie finds out how hard it is to get into a good kindergarten in Manhattan, she may rethink her decision.

Perhaps Murdoch is right and Scientology is a cult: they do believe humans are reincarnated aliens who used to live on other planets. The religion was incorporated in Camden, N.J.

Of course it was! We in Jersey embrace all kooks!

Maybe Murdoch is on to something, and the Holmes/Cruise divorce will lay bare Scientology in all of its freakish splendor. He could be just setting the stage for a story he plans to break. Or, maybe he was just trying to get some excitement going on his Twitter feed and increase his followers. Murdoch has about 273,000 followers, but Cruise has over 3 million.

Pam Lobley writes the “Now That’s Funny” column. Her book, “You Definitely Know You’re a Mom When …” is now available on Kindle. Follow her on Twitter @plobley.