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Scientology has long since had a rocky relationship with the media, but the new beef between the church and Vanity Fair magazine is taking it to a whole other level! 

The Church of Scientology issued a scathing response to the Vanity Fair article that claimed the religious organization arranged a top-secret wife-auditioning project for actor Tom Cruise.

Attorney Jeffrey K. Riffer fired back on behalf of the organization with an eight-page letter condemning the magazine for its “shoddy journalism, religious bigotry and potential legal liability.”

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The article alleged that Shelly Miscavage, wife of Scientology head David Miscavige, organized a series of secret auditions where actresses in the Scientology community were called in to read for a new training film and instead questioned about their interest in Cruise. The article also recounts Cruise’s alleged relationship with Nazanin Bonialdi, an actress selected to date Cruise from November 2004 to January 2005.

In the letter, Riffer refuted these claims, calling them “false and contemptible.” He further accused Vanity Fair correspondent Maureen Orkh of misleading the church about her intentions.

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The letter, written last month, warned Vanity Fair against publishing the piece, stating, “If Vanity Fair goes forward with publication of such defamatory allegations, now that it is on notice that the story is false, the stain on its reputation will last long after any reader even remembers the article.”

Vanity Fair continues to support the story and has since published the expose in its October 2012 issue.

“We absolutely stand by Maureen Orth’s story,” Vanity Fair spokeswoman Beth Kseniak told CNN. “Vanity Fair has never paid sources and never would.”

Read the letter in its entirety here.