14 DAY TRIAL // Tom Cruise’s third marriage, to actress Katie Holmes, came to an end in 2012, in what would later become the quickest and apparently most amicable celebrity divorce in years. One year later, he was suing a celebrity weekly for claiming that he had barely seen daughter Suri a handful of times since the separation.
Clearly, that rumor is still making the rounds: TMZ is now saying that Tom hasn’t seen his daughter with Katie in almost a year, and before you jump to conclusions, let us just say that no, it’s not because the Church of Scientology has banned him from making contact with her.
Suri is no longer part of her father’s life
In 2013, when he took legal action against a tab for saying that he had “abandoned” Suri because he had not been photographed with her in many months, the actor cited his busy schedule for the infrequent visits to his daughter.
Still, he argued, even if they weren’t photographed together, that didn’t mean they didn’t see each other. The same applies here, TMZ reports: rumor has it that he hasn’t seen Suri in almost a year, but the actor claims that he did but he always made sure there were no cameras around.
Apparently, the rumor comes from a “Katie source,” who insists that it’s true: it’s almost as if Tom has forgotten that he has a daughter with Holmes.
Initially, Katie thought that Tom stopped calling because Scientology had told him to. A common practice within the Church is to ban members from making contact with defectors, even if they’re family, by declaring the latter Suppressive Persons.
A Scientologist can have no contact with a SP, so when Tom “forgot” about Suri, Katie assumed both she and the kid had been declared SPs.
Another source tells TMZ that this isn’t the case, so whatever is keeping Tom away isn’t his religious beliefs. It’s not a busy schedule either, since he just had a couple of weeks off in between projects and he made time to hang out with his son Connor, catching a game.
The mystery and fascination around Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise isn’t just one of Hollywood’s most successful leading men / action movie stars, he’s also the highest profile member of the Church of Scientology, the Celebrity branch.
His reputation in showbiz may have taken a nosedive after those interviews in which he ranted against anti-depressants and jumped on Oprah’s coach, but he’s seeing a major career revival right now. At the same time, he’s also being more guarded about most aspects of his personal life, his involvement with Scientology and his marriage to Holmes included.
Instead of making interest in him die down, these things actually contribute to make him even more fascinating, both for the fans and the glossies.
The fact that he hasn’t been photographed with his daughter only adds to the mystery, especially since Suri is regularly photographed with her mother, out and about in New York.
When paparazzi have such good intel on the whereabouts of a celebrity, whether she or he is in NYC, LA or across the pond in London, it seems hard to imagine that Tom could escape unnoticed for such long stretches. So if the pictures of him with Suri don’t exist, that must mean they don’t see each other anymore - or at least that is the general assumption.