Tom Cruise’s long and evident estrangement from his daughter Suri came into sharp focus last weekend — 11 years after he filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against a publication that reported that he had “abandoned” his daughter because his ex-wife, Katie Holmes, wouldn’t raise her in the Church of Scientology.
In a September 2013 deposition for the case, the Hollywood mega-star explained his objections to reports by In Touch that said he had cut ties with a then-7-year-old Suri after Holmes divorced him in 2012. He took issue with the publication claiming that he, a top celebrity member of Scientology, had chosen the church over his daughter “for good.”
“‘Abandoned by Daddy,’” Cruise said angrily in the deposition, referring to the headline of the story. “I mean, come on, that is absolutely disgusting. That is absolutely disgusting.”
But as Queen Elizabeth II once famously said about “recollections,” definitions of “abandonment” also may vary in this situation. In a report this week, The Sun quoted insiders who said that Cruise has not seen his daughter in 11 years.
