Last updated on April 8, 2021
Apparently Tom Cruise had enough.
A cover story in late July in the magazine Life and Style entitled “Abandoned by Her Dad” was reportedly more than Cruise could take placidly sitting down. In lieu of that response, he chose a more proactive alternative: He brought a defamation lawsuit against the magazine for $50 million in damages.
Cruise is certainly no stranger to being on the receiving end of unflattering tabloid stories, but, according to his lawyer, he simply couldn’t abide what his camp termed “disgusting lies about his relationship with his child.”
The story centered on Cruise’s divorce from actress Katie Holmes earlier this year and child custody over the couple’s daughter, Suri. Life and Style editors reportedly sent an advance copy of the story to Cruise’s attorneys, who say it was a “vicious lie” completely devoid of supporting facts.
They promptly demanded a retraction, which the magazine rejected. Cruise’s representatives also say that they provided the magazine with “true facts,” including that Cruise at the time was fulfilling contractual obligations by making a movie and was in regular contact with his daughter. The magazine went to press without incorporating any of that material.
One of Cruise’s lawyers called that outcome “reprehensible” and the decision of “sleaze peddlers trying to make money.”
Publishing the article made Cruise’s decision to sue an absolute certainty, say his representatives.
“He’s not a litigious guy,” noted one, who added that, nonetheless, the article’s misinformation compelled him to take action.
Cruise’s lawsuit was filed October 24 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
Source: Los Angeles Times,”Tom Cruise files lawsuit against magazine over ‘vicious’ Suri lies,” Oct. 25, 2012
