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Paramount head Brad Grey stayed mostly tight-lipped during the tense period following the femur-shattering kick-in-the-pants Sumner Redstone delivered to Tom Cruise on his way out of the Viacom family doors. Radar now reports that Grey might have been relieved to see Cruise go, especially after the deadlocked negotiations for his Mission Impossible 3 salary led to an after-hours run-in with a pack of navy-blazered Scientology goons, fists lightly pounding into their palms as they attempted to get shorty to see the light:

Leaving the office one night, the diminutive Grey, walking to his car in the Paramount lot, suddenly found himself surrounded by more than a dozen Scientologists, who pressured him to ease up on the actor, according to the source.

Following a terse exchange, the visitors allowed Grey to get into his car and leave, but the message was clear. Though he was unnerved by the incident, sources say, Grey stood his ground. After protracted negotiations, Cruise eventually agreed to a less generous deal.

We have developed a whole new level of admiration for Grey, as the same heavies have managed to bring plenty of lesser studio heads to their greenlighting knees. There's nothing like being suspended over the edge of a high-floor Celebrity Center balcony with an entire packet of vitamins stuffed up your nose, then vigorously shaken of excess thetan dust, to help you quickly start seeing the commercial potential of your star's Rasta-alien passion project.