Martin Bashir incited him to leave with a series of questioning, starting with “Do you believe that a galactic emperor called Xenu brought his people to earth 75 million years ago and buried them in volcanoes?”

It might seem like a pretty simple yes/no question, but Bashir was asking about a part of Scientology scripture derived from the writings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and kept secret from the non-Scientologist public and even some Scientologists who don’t rank high enough, we think.

Davis was noticably upset as soon as Xenu entered into the questioning, telling Bashir:

“Ok, Martin, I am not going to discuss the disgusting perversions of Scientology beliefs that can be found commonly on the Internet and be put in the position of talking about things that are so fundamentally offensive to Scientologists … that’s all.

But Bashir persisted, citing his responsibilities as a journalist. Soon enough Davis stormed out, and Nightline cut hard to Bashir in the studio, who doesn’t bat an eye behind the Nightline desk: “When we come back, the future of celebrities in the church.”

Martin Bashir interviews Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis on ABC’s Nightline (starts at 3:40), via TV Newser: