Tom Cruise Suing Magazine for $50 Million Over Suri Abandonment Story
Tom Cruise is reportedly suing a U.S. tabloid magazine over a previous story claiming that the actor abandoned his 6-year-old daughter Suri.
Cruise, who agreed to give his ex-wife Katie Holmes primary custody of their daughter, has been photographed with the 6-year-old in recent months since their divorce was finalized. However Life & Style magazine ran a story in July implying that the 50-year-old actor had turned his back on his child, which prompted his attorneys to file suit.
"Tom is a caring father who dearly loves Suri. She's a vital part of his life and always will be. To say he has 'abandoned' her is a vicious lie. To say it in lurid headlines with a tearful picture of Suri is reprehensible," Cruise's attorney Bert Fields said in a statement to TMZ.com.
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The magazine ran the story, which was accompanied by the defamatory headline "Suri in Tears: Abandoned By Her Dad," sparking outrage from Cruise's camp, who has worked tirelessly to protect the actor's image.
"Tom doesn't go around suing people. He's not a litigious guy. But when these sleaze peddlers try to make money with disgusting lies about his relationship with his child, you bet he's going to sue," Fields went on.
Holmes, 33, abruptly filed for divorce after six years of marriage on June 28 and Cruise reportedly agreed to pay $400,000 a year in child support for Suri as part of the terms of settlement. Despite the ongoing speculation about why Cruise has not been seen publicly with Suri in recent weeks, Fields insisted that work commitments were to blame.
"Of course he'll be seeing her soon. He's [currently] in England finishing one picture and preparing another," Fields told MailOnline adding that the actor "misses her."
This is not the first time that Cruise's attorney has made threats against a tabloid over reports about his personal life.
In July, Fields blasted the parent company of controversial tabloid The National Enquirer over a story which made assertions that he had abused Holmes during their marriage.
Fields excoriated American Media, the publishers of The Enquirer, for the "disgraceful and lurid" article about Cruise's marriage to Holmes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"Your cover announces, as a fact, that 'THE REAL TOM CRUISE IS A MONSTER.' Mr. Cruise is certainly not a 'monster.' He is a caring father, a hardworking actor and, above all, an honest, decent man," Fields wrote in a letter to American Media.
Fields claims that the article will cost Cruise "hundreds of millions of dollars of professional and personal damages, for which we intend to hold American Media, and everyone who participated in the perpetuation of this scurrilous attack, jointly and severally liable."
"Mr. Cruise's home in Telluride, like his home in Beverly Hills, is a pleasant and loving home," Fields wrote, adding that "Suri was not forced to stay for five months in a tiny windowless room. She spent most of her time with Tom and Katie. She slept in a nursery adjoining their bedroom. It has a window."
