If Rupert Murdoch calls you "creepy, maybe even evil," you might have an image problem.

The News Corp. chief executive took to his Twitter account to express his opinions on the Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes divorce — or rather, the role that Scientology may have played.

Scientology back in news. Very weird cult, but big, big money involved with Tom Cruise either number two or three in hierarchy ... Watch Katie Holmes and Scientology story develop. Something creepy, maybe even evil, about these people.

Murdoch claims he's received "hundreds of attacks" since his comments, but he can certainly pay someone to handle those. What did he mean by the "Katie Holmes and Scientology story," though?

It's likely that Murdoch was referencing the rumors that Katie Holmes left Tom Cruise to rescue their daughter Suri from life as a Scientologist. But the story Murdoch alludes to could be larger than that: today, TMZ reported that Holmes fears she is being followed because she is a threat to Scientology.

Apparently Holmes believes she's been tailed since before the divorce, when her relationship with Cruise was becoming increasingly strained. TMZ also says she feels especially targeted in New York City, which is where she had planned to get away from her husband.

TMZ can only cite sources close to Holmes, so the story is hard to verify. On the other hand, they point out the presence of a white Cadillac Escalade and a black Mercedes SUV in many photos of Holmes. Other sources claim to have seen "mysterious" men lurking about.

But then, there are plenty of journalists and "journalists" following Holmes — that's why there are so many stories about her on TMZ. The site acknowledges that the cars in question could be from a publication, though they don't mention which. Meanwhile, Scientology has refused to comment. (Big surprise there.)

One could dismiss this story as mindless tabloid gossip, or even the paranoid suspicions of a person who has had much of her private life exposed against her will. But given the Church of Scientology's history of intimidation, it does give pause. If Holmes can eventually prove that Scientologists are keeping track of her, it would certainly help with her fight for sole custody of Suri.

UPDATE:

For what it's worth, Church of Scientology lawyer Greg Soter says they are not tailing Katie Holmes. That's not the kind of thing the Church would lie about, right?

[Image via TNYF/WENN.com]