Tom Cruise has spoken about his split from Katie Holmes – and fiercely denied “abandoning” daughter Suri.
The famously private actor has been forced to defend his parenting skills as he sues two US magazines over allegations he had cut the seven-year-old out of his life.
In doing so he has given a unique insight into the former A-list couple’s life although Cruise interestingly never refers to his ex wife by name in court papers.
The 51-year-old was completely blindsided by Holmes when she called time on their five year marriage last year.
The bombshell came amid reports she feared he was to indoctrinate Suri into a hardcore Scientology organisation
Cruise admitted her decision took him completely by surprise saying “I didn’t expect it” as he believed his marriage was still strong.
Now, as he sues two U.S. magazines for £31million the Mission Impossible star opens up about how Holmes’s decision “changed circumstances” which prevented him from seeing his youngest daughter as he did before.
“We were not able to see each other as often as we did prior to the divorce,” said the father-of-three.
“However, the assertion I ‘abandoned’ Suri after my divorce is patently false.
“I have in no way cut Suri out of my life – whether physically, emotionally, financially or otherwise.”
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Prior to the divorce in June 2012, the close knit family would travel around the world to visit him on set but such trips came to an end for Suri following the split.
The breakdown caused a reported rift between the couple, famously dubbed TomKat, after friends of the actress claimed Cruise’s controlling behaviour left her fearing she was turning “into a robot”.
Sources close to the 34-year-old said she had been “miserable for a long time” after growing tired of her days being mapped out by her husband.
As part of her divorce, in which the marriage was said to “irretrievably broken”, Holmes filed for sole custody of their daughter.
As a result Cruise, who is Hollywood’s highest paid actor, was seen less and less with Suri prompting magazines to falsely claim last year he was no longer in her life and using the headline “Abandoned by Daddy”.
Cruise is suing for Life & Style and In Touch publications for $ 50million (£31million) for libel promising to give any money he wins to charity.
In paperwork filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, in which he refers to Holmes only as his “ex-wife” or “Suri’s mother”, he reveals his pain about being away from his daughter.
Defending how often he sees her he said: “Suri and I saw each other in person in July, August, November and December 2012.
“But even during the times when I was working overseas and not able to see Suri in person, we were (and continue to be) extremely close.
“We spoke on the phone nearly every day and I regularly asked for and received updates concerning her friends and school life, which I then discussed with her during our regular phone calls.”
Cruise, who was last photographed with Suri in August 2012, says his schedule did not have an adverse effect on his relationship with his daughter in any way.
“As my numerous emails with Suri’s mother during this time demonstrated, I was a constant presence in Suri’s life during that time that defendants claim falsely that I abandoned her.
“While I’m sure my daughter misses me when I am not with her (as I miss her), she is a very happy child, and we have a wonderful relationship and cheerful phone calls.
“She has never indicated, in words or substance, that she has ever felt abandoned by me.”
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Holmes allegedly plotted her divorce from Cruise for weeks with her father’s help, even renting an exclusive apartment to hideaway with daughter Suri behind his back.
The Dawson’s Creek star reportedly took refuge in a smart Chelsea property close to the couple’s West Village pad.
TomKat were worth around £170million – much of that owing to the actor’s box office success.
The terms of their 100-page pre-nup granted Holmes £2million for each year of marriage as well as one of the their palatial homes in California.
If their relationship had lasted more than 11 years, Holmes would have received half of Cruises’s fortune.
With a pre-nup in place, it is thought Holmes purposefully filed for divorce in New York state and not California because Manhattan judges dislike awarding warring parents joint custody.
Amid reports in the U.S. sole custody was granted it allowed Holmes to remove her daughter from the Church of Scientology, which she is alleged to dislike and distrust, despite her former husband’s enthusiasm for it.
Since the split Holmes has refused to speak about her marriage only ever saying “I’m alright’ when asked about the bitter breakdown.
Cruise has a penchant for actresses marrying Mimi Rogers and Nicole Kidman before tying the knot with Holmes in 2006.
He famously declared his love for Holmes on The Oprah Winfrey Show, jumping up and down on the host’s sofa during the show.
Following Cruise’s legal action his lawyer Bert Fields said: “Tom is a caring father who dearly loves Suri.
“She’s a vital part of his life and always will be. To say he has ‘abandoned’ her is a vicious lie.
“To say it in lurid headlines with a tearful picture of Suri is reprehensible.”
“Tom doesn’t go around suing people. He’s not a litigious guy.
“But when these sleaze-peddlers try to make money with disgusting lies about his relationship with his child, you bet he’s going to sue.”
Tom Cruise denies he has abandoned daughter Suri as he sues two US magazines
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