Tom Cruise says Scientology played a part in his split from Katie Holmes
because she wanted to protect their daughter from the controversial
religion.
While being deposed by Bauer Publishing in Los
Angeles, Cruise — who is suing the publisher for $50 million for
claiming he “abandoned” the 7-year-old girl after his divorce — made the
admission, which had long been speculated about.
According
to a transcript of the Sept. 9 deposition, which was obtained by “omg!
Insider,” the 51-year-old revealed that Suri is no longer practicing the
religion and was asked whether Holmes divorced him to “protect” the
girl from Scientology.
Cruise, who said he found the question “offensive,” replied, “There is no need to protect my daughter from my religion.”
However,
when asked whether Holmes divorced him for that reason, he replied,
“That was one of the assertions, yes. … There are many other aspects to
the divorce.”
The movie star was also asked about Scientology’s
term “suppressive person,” which the church labels those who publicly
renounce Scientology, and if Holmes fit into that category.
“That
is a distortion and simplification of the matter,” he replied. “I don’t
want to just give an oversimplification of religious doctrine.”
However, he noted that his older children from his marriage to Nicole Kidman haven’t had contact with Holmes since the divorce.
The
deposition also included Cruise talking about how he didn’t seen Suri
for at least three months after the divorce — a period of time from
early August 2012 to Thanksgiving — when he was filming a movie in
London. It included the girl’s first day of school.
“If
she had asked me to be there, I would have been there I would have
worked it out in any way I could,” he said of Suri, whom he described as
a very happy child, and confident, and has a good sense of herself.”
He claimed that they spoke on the phone almost daily during that time period.
“I’ve gotten very good at it,” he said of their long-distance phone calls. “I tell wonderful stories.”
He
admitted that Holmes tried to get him to visit Suri in October of that
year, but he was unable to make it. And they failed to agree on other
days within the time period.
“Things change and there is different
agreements, like in any divorce, where you work out schedules,” he
said. “It’s just a different set of circumstances. It certainly does not
mean that I’ve abandoned my daughter.”
During the deposition,
Cruise made it clear that he wished he didn’t have to press forward with
the lawsuit — saying that his lawyers tried to resolve things with the
publishing company behind closed doors — but he saw no other course of
action when the magazines deemed him a bad father and wouldn’t issue a
retraction.
“What I find most disturbing is that I have to sit
here and look at this photograph of my daughter with ‘Abandoned by
Daddy’ [on the cover],” said Cruise, who has been single since the end
of his third marriage. “To me, that is what sticks out the most. ‘He
chose Scientology over Suri for good.’ Has he chosen Scientology over
Suri for good?’ ‘Abandoned by Daddy.’ I mean come on, that is absolutely
disgusting. That is absolutely disgusting.”
I have to tell you, with everything — listen, I am a public person, I
absolutely understand,” he continued. “For me there is — I tolerate a
tremendous amount and I am very privileged to be able to have the life
that I have and I believe that. But there is a line that I draw for
myself and … and that’s it.”
The next court date for the case is scheduled for Nov. 26.
