Tom Cruise sues Bauer over Suri abandonment claims

Tom Cruise has strongly dismissed claims he has “abandoned” his daughter Suri following his divorce from actress Katie Holmes as “patently false”.

“I have in no way cut Suri out of my life,” Tom Cruise said in a declaration filed on Tuesday in a $50 million defamation case against magazine publisher Bauer.

Tom Cruise, 51, is suing Bauer over two 2012 tabloid stories that claimed he was absent from his 7-year-old daughter’s life.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes divorced in June last year after six years of marriage.

The legal action relates to stories in Life & Style and In Touch magazines that claimed overseas film shoots had stopped Tom Cruise being a constant presence in Suri’s life.

In documents made public by Radar Online, Tom Cruise acknowledged he was “a professional actor in motion pictures” whose job involved “extended periods of time in various parts of the world”.

However, Tom Cruise insisted he and his daughter remained “extremely close” and had a “wonderful relationship and cheerful phone calls”.

“While I’m sure my daughter misses me when I am not with her (as I miss her), she is a very happy child,” Tom Cruise’s statement read.

Suri, he continued, “has never indicated, in words or substance, that she has ever felt abandoned by me”.

Tom Cruise’s lawyers are asking a judge to order Bauer to declare it did not have any sources to support its contentions.

Bauer’s lawyers have argued the star’s motion should be rejected, referring to statements from confidential sources that allegedly support its claims.