Amidst the widespread scorn and criticism directed at Tom Cruise after the release of Andrew Morton’s unauthorized biography and the mysteriously leaked Scientology video, producer and longtime friend Linda Wagner has spoken out against his detractors.

Paula Wagner, collaborator of Tom Cruise for more than a quarter-century and current co-owner of United Artists with the actor, has come to her friend’s defence against those ridiculing him on account of the recently leaked video and over Andrew Morton’s claims.

The 9-minute video was reportedly recorded some four years ago, on the occasion of Cruise receiving a special award at an International Association of Scientologists event. It was only meant for insiders, not in the least for the public, but somehow it made its way on the internet, to the subsequent chagrin of the Church of Scientology.

Wagner issued a statement Friday, Jan. 18, commenting on both criticism generated by the video and Andrew Morton’s claims in “Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography.”

“I have known and worked with Tom for more than 25 years,” Wagner begins her statement, then goes on to call Morton’s book “a disgraceful piece of gossip-mongering, filled with distortions and outright lies that no sensible person will take seriously.”

While explaining that she herself is not a Scientologist, as are not most of the people she and Cruise work with, she pleads for tolerance, saying that she strongly believes “an individual's religion should have no bearing on their professional life.”

Wagner also says an “out-of-context” video is easy to mock but does not change the fact that her friend Tom Cruise is “one of the hardest-working and nicest human beings I have ever known.”

Those are not the only admiring words she has about the “Mission Impossible” actor, whom she describes as “a rock-solid dependable partner” for whom she has “the utmost respect and admiration for his talent, integrity, kindness, and dedication.”

The controversial video show Cruise as he extols the brilliance of Scientology, claiming that Scientologists are here to help people and that they are “the authorities on the mind.”

As to the claims former journalist, current biographer Andrew Morton makes in his book, they are especially related to Cruise’s affiliation with Scientology. He calls Cruise “second in command” in the Church of Scientology and meticulously portrays him as a control freak and a fanatic.

A Scientology spokesperson has said the video was a “pirated and edited” version of an actual acceptance speech Cruise made in 2004 after receiving a “freedom medal” from the International Association of Scientologists, which can be viewed in Scientology churches.

St. Martin’s Press, Morton’s publisher, has said it stands by the author and his book.