Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in happier days
The background
Katie Holmes has filed for divorce from Tom Cruise after five and a half years of marriage. The former Dawson’s Creek actress apparently filed the papers on Thursday 28th June, days before her husband’s 50th birthday.
The news has sent celeb-watchers into a frenzy, with rumours swirling that Mission Impossible star Cruise’s commitment to the Church of Scientology was to blame for the split.
The couple married in 2006 and have a six-year-old-daughter, Suri. Despite Cruise’s very public declarations of love for his 33-year-old bride – including the notorious sofa-jumping incident – the relationship has been the subject of intense speculation since the beginning. Some commentators even suggested the marriage was a sham, intended to hide Cruise’s sexuality.
With TomKat likely to dominate the headlines for the foreseeable future, here are the top five rumours so far surrounding the split.
“I’m just happy, and have been since the moment I met her. What we have is very special,” Tom Cruise told Playboy in May 2012, reported The Sun.
Tom taken by surprise?
Just days before the announcement, Cruise told People Magazine that his perfect day was “the time with Kate”. So does this mean the actor was taken by surprise by Holmes’s decision? “Cruise confirmed that it was Holmes who filed papers – not him – and the brief statement from his rep spoke of the star needing privacy to ‘work this out’,” People reported.
It’s all about Suri
“The heart of the divorce is nothing less than the battle for the soul of Cruise and Holmes’ daughter Suri,” wrote Paul Scott in The Daily Mail. Various media outlets reported that Holmes is seeking sole residential custody of the six-year-old, and Scott suggested the move is an attempt to prevent Suri from being inducted into Scientology: “Cruise’s desire to immerse his daughter in Scientology is believed to have brought about a culture clash of religions with Katie, who was raised a devout Roman Catholic,” Scott said.
Scientologists watching Katie?
According to TMZ, Katie Holmes believes she is being tailed by members of the Scientology movement because she is considered “a threat to the organization”. Two “mysterious” cars have apparently been spotted outside the actress’s New York apartment. However, a lawyer for the Church of Scientology told TMZ that they are not monitoring Holmes.
Trouble already obvious in February
A body language expert told Hollywood Life that photographs of the couple’s last red carpet appearance together make clear the marriage was already in trouble early in 2012. “They look stiff,” said Dr Lillian Glass. “He’s not connected to her even though they lean in. There is tension, her head is turned away.”
How many millions will Katie get?
Normally, California law would mean the couple’s assets would be split 50/50, pointed out Deanne Katz at Reuters. But it seems TomKat’s situation is complicated by a prenup, under the terms of which “Katie is entitled to $3 million for each year she was married to Cruise for a sweet total of almost $18 million.”
Watch Tom Cruise declaring his love for Katie Holmes in the manner of a crazy person on The Oprah Winfrey show in 2005.
