Tom Cruise’s lawyer Bert Fields has denied claims that the Church of Scientology embarked on a long-term “auditioning” process to find the actor a new partner, after his 2001 divorce from Nicole Kidman.
Bert Fields called a Vanity Fair report, previewed on the magazine’s website, “long, boring and false”.
He said it was “a rehash of tired old lies” run in the supermarket tabloids.
Tom Cruise and his third wife Katie Holmes divorced in July this year.
The article, written for October’s edition of Vanity Fair, claimed the top-secret project was led by Shelly Miscaviage, the wife of Scientology leader David, in 2004.
Tom Cruise and his third wife Katie Holmes divorced in July this year
Special correspondent Maureen Orth said she was told by “several sources” that actresses were quizzed by fellow Scientologists to find a suitable partner for Cruise, one of the organization’s most prominent proponents.
Actress Nazanin Boniadi, who was born in Iran and raised in the UK, told the magazine she was approached in 2004 and “audited”, before being selected to date Tom Cruise.
The article alleges their first date was conducted “with an entourage of Scientology aides”, but the relationship faltered after a few months and ended in 2005.
The Church of Scientology has spoken out against the feature in a statement.
“There was no project, secret or otherwise, ever conducted by the church to find a bride (via audition or otherwise) for any member of the church. Never.”
It claimed the magazine relied on a small group of “anti-Scientologists” for information, who had “shamelessly exploited Tom Cruise’s divorce by spreading false and invented tabloid stories.”
Vanity Fair says it stands by the story and has denied claims that it paid its sources.
Maureen Orth is a long-time contributor to the magazine, who has interviewed Vladimir Putin and Margaret Thatcher, as well as writing investigative articles about the allegations of sexual abuse levelled against pop star Michael Jackson.
Tom Cruise married Katie Holmes, with whom he has a daughter Suri, in an Italian castle in November 2006.
Katie Holmes filed for divorce at the end of June this year and the couple announced they had agreed a settlement several weeks later.
Actor Tom Cruise reunited with his daughter Suri in New York yesterday for the first time since his split from wife Katie Holmes.
Shooting on his latest movie Oblivion wrapped in California, Tom Cruise flew to New York overnight to see his youngest child.
Suri Cruise, 6, cuddled her father with one arm and clutched a soft toy in the other as he carried her into the Greenwich Hotel.
They later emerged, seemingly having changed outfits, with Suri switching from casual red flip-flops into a pair of burnt red patent flats – although her orange dress remained the same.
Tom Cruise reunited with his daughter Suri in New York yesterday for the first time since his split from wife Katie Holmes
Tom Cruise, 50, also seemed to have freshened up, wearing a navy T-shirt instead of a light blue shirt.
His sister Cass Mapother was also seen arriving at the establishment with toys in tow.
Tom Cruise had no contact with Katie Holmes when he made a five minute visit to her apartment to collect their child earlier this morning, according to TMZ.
The actor and his daughter were last spotted in public together on June 16, when they dined at Sushi Samba in Reykjavik, Iceland, along with Katie Holmes.
It was no doubt an emotional reunion for father and daughter, who have been keeping in touch via phone and video chat in recent weeks.
Last week Tom Cruise’s lawyer, Bert Fields said the actor was eager to be with his daughter again, adding: “Tom loves Suri very, very much, as he does his other two children. Tom is a family man, and dedicated to his children. They are the centre of his world.”
Tom Cruise’s older children Isabella, 19, and 17-year-old Connor from his marriage to Nicole Kidman have both been spending time with him in recent weeks, including sombre birthday celebration on July 3.
Following her split from Tom Cruise on June 29, Katie Holmes has secured primary custody of their little girl in an undisclosed divorce agreement.
It was recently revealed Katie Holmes has enrolled Suri into New York’s Convent of the Sacred Heart School.
The conservative school – where former pupils include Lady Gaga and Paris Hilton – was chosen because the actress wants her daughter to have a Catholic education, rather than being taught at a Scientology school as Tom Cruise desired.
Contrary to Tom Cruise child support rumors circulating around the Internet, the actor did not pay Katie Holmes a $50 million lump sum payment for the care of little Suri, Newsday reports.
A pre-nuptial agreement Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes signed means there will be no alimony for the actress. Tom Cruise will be paying approximately $10 million over the course of the next 12 years to Katie Holmes to take care of Suri in a manner in which she has become accustomed, according to information a “source” revealed to TMZ.
Tom Cruise will be paying approximately $10 million over the course of the next 12 years to Katie Holmes to take care of Suri
The quick and quiet divorce and child custody agreement between Tom Cruise and Katie Homes does grant Cruise “significant custodial time” with little Suri, but Holmes has primary physical custody. TMZ reports that previous media articles claiming that Suri Cruise must be in the presence of Katie Holmes’ nanny and bodyguards when she is in Tom Cruise’s care a “absolutely 100% false.” There are however “extremely detailed” custodial provisions about what Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes can discuss with Suri on several topics, one of which being religion. The restrictions on the discussions of Scientology and religion are reportedly “eased” as Suri ages.
“Tom was always most interested in his child,” Tom Cruise’s attorney Bert Fields told People magazine.
“He will have a meaningful relationship with Suri.”
Bert Fields was not able to give a specific time or date for the first visitation dates between Tom Cruise and Suri.
“I don’t know the details of his schedule, so I can’t comment. My guess is he’ll be seeing Suri very soon.”
Bert Fields also told People that there were no Scientologists present during the Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes divorce and child custody negotiations.
Tom Cruise’s attorney also maintains that Scientologists were not “directing the negotiations” and calls such claims “hogwash.”
Bert Fields told People that both Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes “dealt rationally” with the custody and divorce issues, hashing out the important matters over several days until both parties were satisfied.
Tom Cruise’s lawyer has threatened the National Enquirer with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit over a new issue asserting it has details of the actor’s recent split with wife Katie Holmes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The website posted a letter from Tom Cruise’s Los Angeles attorney, Bert Fields, in which he blasts American Media Inc, parent of the National Enquirer, for what he calls “false and vicious lies”.
Bert Fields went on to add that the “lies” will cause “hundreds of millions of dollars” in damages to Tom Cruise.
“As you were notified in advance, your current issue of National Enquirer makes numerous false and defamatory assertions about our client Tom Cruise,” the three-page letter begins.
Tom Cruise's lawyer has threatened the National Enquirer with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit over a new issue asserting it has details of the actor's recent split with Katie Holmes
The letter draws attention to disparaging descriptions of Tom Cruise in the Enquirer‘s issue that hit newsstands on Wednesday.
Bert Fields wrote: “These are all lies – vicious, hurtful, damaging lies.”
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have been the subject of hundreds of headlines worldwide since she filed for divorce from the actor two weeks ago, seeking sole custody of their six-year-old daughter, Suri.
Earlier this week, the couple agreed to a divorce and custody arrangement, but details were undisclosed.
Both have remained publicly silent about the issue, except for one joint statement in which they said they were working together to settle their differences in the best interest of Suri.
Speculation about a reason for the split has centered on Tom Cruise’s membership in the Church of Scientology, but that has never been confirmed by either the couple or their representatives.
Tom Cruise’s lawyers have taken at a swipe at Katie Holmes, accusing her and her legal team of “playing the media”.
While Tom Cruise, 50, has kept silent save for the statement he issued immediately after Katie Holmes made her announcement, his lawyer Bert Fields spoke to the BBC yesterday about the impending battle between the couple and their fight for custody of Suri, 6.
In a thinly veiled attack on Katie Holmes, he said: “We are letting <<the other side>> [Katie and her team], play the media until they wear everyone out and then we’ll have something to say.”
Bert Fields added: “Tactically we can’t say where Tom will file a divorce case and if he’ll be seeking joint custody of Suri.”
It was certainly an unprecedented broadside intended to draw sympathy away from Tom Cruise’s estranged wife, and all the more notable as the actor, who celebrated turning 50 this week is notoriously private.
Bert Fields, who spoke to BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat, would not be drawn on specific details of the divorce – but did use his opportunity to express that his client was “really sad about what’s happening”.
The lawyer added: “It’s not Tom’s style to do this publicly. He is really sad about what’s happening.”
It is believed Katie Holmes wants legal custody because she is worried about Tom’s devotion to sci-fi cult Scientology and the effect the quasi-religious sect may have on their six-year-old daughter.
However a source told TMZ: “[Katie] was totally committed to Scientology. She had enthusiasm for it and would voluntarily and gladly participate in it when Tom was off shooting movies.
“This is not a fight over religion. It’s being used as a way to hurt Tom.”
Tom Cruise's lawyers have taken at a swipe at Katie Holmes, accusing her and her legal team of “playing the media
The now warring spouses are not speaking, but Tom Cruise is reportedly calling Suri “several times a day”.
Tom Cruise has borne the brunt of the negative publicity surrounding the divorce, and it seems his lawyer is keen to redress the balance.
But yet more revelations emerged today claiming Tom Cruise controlled Katie Holmes “like a puppetmaster making every major and minor decision in her personal and professional life”, wrote TMZ.
And sources close to Katie Holmes claimed: “In the end, she felt like she couldn’t breathe without his permission.”
In 2005, early in the couple’s relationship, during filming of Thank You for Smoking, Tom Cruise allegedly instructed producers to “kill” any promotional photos which showed Katie Holmes and co-star Aaron Eckhart engaged in kissing or “anything else compromising”.
Tom Cruise is also said to have imposed his will during her stint on Batman Begins to prevent Katie Holmes from flying with the rest of the cast. Instead, Katie Holmes was made to travel to set on Tom Cruise’s private jet.
A source told TMZ actor Morgan Freeman was supposedly “disgusted” by the situation.
Bert Field’s attack came as Katie Holmes stepped out looking worryingly thin with a tired looking Suri.
Katie carried her daughter during a trip with friends – accompanied by security – to the Children’s Museum of the Arts in the Soho area of New York City.
It emerged yesterday that Katie Holmes had been secretly planning her divorce assault for several weeks with the help of her father Martin Holmes.
The secretive plan included switching all her cell phones and email addresses.
Katie Holmes was said to be contact with Tom Cruise, right up until last week, playing the role of doting wife.
“She was talking to Tom on the phone up until last week saying, <<I love you>>,” a source told People magazine.
But the escape plan was well underway when Katie Holmes recently visited China for work commitments.
“Her inner circle has been planning this and switching out cell phones since she was in China [in mid-June],” the source said.
“When new cell phones arrived, then nobody could reach her. Her old best friends from last week don’t have her new number, no e-mail. She’s unreachable.”
Katie Holmes even allegedly bent the truth to Tom Cruise about her new Chelsea apartment.
“[Tom] knew that she moved there, but [he thought it was] for different reasons,” the source told People.
“She said she moved there to drive into the underground garage. There are fewer paparazzi and it’s less intrusive for her,” the source continued.
“It was the first phase of getting everything out of the house, and that’s why she was able to say she’s moving without giving an indication that she was going to divorce him.”
Katie Holmes’ father also fired some of his daughter’s assistants and hired new ones in place to help out with the grand plan.
In their new apartment building, neighbors say mother and daughter are a joy to have.
“Katie and Suri have been very friendly to everyone they see in the building,” a source told Radaronline.
“But they mostly keep to themselves.”
However the pair has been spotted using the communal children’s playroom.
“Suri was there playing. Katie was with her and they were very sweet to the other people in the room.
“There were a few other kids there and Suri quietly played with them. She seemed like a nice little girl and the other kids looked like they were having fun with her.”
Tom Cruise, who has kept busy by shooting his latest movie Oblivion in Iceland, returned to Los Angeles earlier this week where he marked his 50th birthday with a quiet lunch alongside adopted children Connor and Isabella, but not Suri.
He is said to have made it his “first priority” to get temporary visitation rights to his daughter Suri.
Tom Cruise intends to go to court in Los Angeles in person to ensure he is legally allowed to see the youngster.
Katie Holmes filed for the divorce in New York because she believes she has a better chance of winning sole custody, and although Tom Cruise was encouraged to file in California, the law states divorce cannot be filed in separate states at the same time.
A source said: “Tom has told Dennis Wasser and Bert Fields, his long-time entertainment lawyer, that his first priority is getting a court order in place, obviously a temporary one, that will allow him to legally see his daughter.
“Team Cruise has extensive documentation to prove that Los Angeles is where the case should proceed, because this is where he says they have lived.
“Tom is extremely disappointed that Katie filed in New York, and he feels that she is trying to cut him out of their daughter’s life.
“Tom won’t tolerate it and told his lawyers that if he personally needs to go to court and make a plea in front of the judge for an order allowing him to see his daughter, he will.”
