14 DAY TRIAL // A short while ago, Star magazine came out with a cover that implied that Katie Holmes was addicted to drugs and that’s why she couldn’t leave Tom Cruise. The actress has just filed a lawsuit against the tab over this story.
As we also noted at the time, the cover of the tab read “Addiction nightmare: Katie drug shocker!” while an insert read “The real reason she can’t leave Tom!”
Inside the pages of the magazine, though, the story included no drug reference, saying only that Katie was as if “addicted” to Scientology treatments like auditing.
Though that issue of the mag came out in January, it’s just now that Katie has decided to take legal action against it, with her attorney telling TMZ that Star refuses to apologize for the story and issue a retraction.
Since all other options have thus been exhausted, Holmes’ legal representatives are taking this to court – and are asking for no less than $50 million in damages for libel.
“[Katie] has no intention of leaving her husband, and is not prevented from doing so by any drug addiction,” the attorney tells TMZ in a statement.
“Star Magazine’s malicious claims about Katie are untrue, unethical and unlawful. Not only do they cruelly defame Katie, they play a cheap trick on the public, making ridiculously false claims on the cover unsupported by anything inside,” the legal representative adds.
Apparently, Holmes’ lawyers have been in contact with Star and have told publishers that the story is false, yet they chose to run it either way.
“Someone should bring a class action to get all buyers their money back,” the attorney adds.
Star Magazine, on the other hand, which is part of American Media Inc., says it has serious plans to fight this in court, adding that it did no wrong in running the story, even with the misleading headline.
“[We] look forward to deposing Ms. Holmes about her experiences with Scientology,” attorneys for Star say in a separate statement, adding they will “vigorously defend” their case.