Crowe was just saying the way it wen down at the time. I think his final comment says it all
It sounds like he is trying to disavow himself from the statement in order to make it more convincing and to distance himself from the cult itself. He is a talented actor, after all.
I remember he did something similar when he received an award for a film he did with Ron Howard, he made a point of thanking him 'as a man.'
It was clear from what Ron Howard said about that statement that it meant a lot to him because he had been typecast as a child his whole life.
Crowe knows how to make a public statement that makes someone look good.
This article and his statements strike me as a deliberate supportive statement hedged with a convincing denial.
Crowe is no Scientologist, but he is the sort of guy who would stick up for a fellow actor and friend.
That is what he has done. That is why I say he is stupid, not because he's not clever, but this late in the game, any support of Scientology at all is a bad move.