As we reiterated yesterday, our April Scientology cover story does not make the case that Will Smith is a Scientologist, even though MSNBC used it to buttress their claim that "the actor is definitely becoming a member of the religion." MSNBC has its own sources for that, which is now apparently causing a whole slew of different problems for Sony, the studio behind the I Am Legend star's summer offering, Hancock.

Sources tell Defamer that Sony execs, fearing Smith's dabbles with the quasi-religion will spell box office disaster for Hancock the way avowed Scientologist Tom Cruise's bizarre pre-release publicity blitz hurt Mission: Impossible 3, tried to get MSNBC to kill the item, though MSBC declined to do so. According to Defamer, it was also Sony that forced Smith to issue his "I'm a Christian" denial, which sort of pissed off Smith's real Scientologist friends, especially since Smith, in the tradition of Scientologists far and wide, has made a habit of giving the Church fistfuls of monies.

Smith at least seems to be playing ball (for the time being) with Sony, unlike Cruise, whose erratic behavior eventually caused the dissolution of his lucrative production agreement with Paramount. We're sure Sony execs will politely remind Smith to refrain from jumping on couches during the inevitable Oprah stop, though.