In June, 2012, Katie Holmes shocked the world — and Tom Cruise — by filing for divorce after seven years together and six years of marriage. Though their relationship and divorce is one of the most publicized and talked-about splits in celebrity history, the former couple have both been impressively coy about the reasons behind their breakup.
Rumors have long swirled that differences of opinions on Cruise’s devotion to Scientology drove Holmes to seek a divorce. In 2013, while testifying in a defamation case he took against Bauer Media who claimed he abandoned his daughter, Cruise was asked if Holmes left him “in part to protect Suri from Scientology.” When pushed for an answer, Cruise responded: “Did she say that? That was one of the assertions, yes.”
In the same deposition, Cruise admitted his daughter with Holmes, Suri, was no longer a practicing member of Scientology but insisted, “there is no need to protect my daughter from my religion.” This admission only exacerbated rumors that Cruise, now 60, was entirely estranged from his daughter due to the fact that Scientology deems anyone who leaves the faith a “Suppressive Person” and encourages remaining members in the same family to cut them off.
Still, despite relocating to New York and beginning her life as a single mother, Holmes remained tight-lipped about her divorce. In 2016, Radar Online claimed that the couple’s rapid divorce, which was finalized in just 11 days, featured a clause that prevented Holmes from speaking out about her ex-husband. In exchange for $4.8 million in child support and $5 million for herself, Holmes allegedly agreed not to talk about Cruise, Scientology or even date publicly until 2017. This leads us on to one of the Dawson’s Creek alum’s rare admissions about her divorce which she shared in 2020.
While speaking to InStyle, Holmes reflected on her 2012 move to New York City after her divorce. She recalled: “That time was intense. It was a lot of attention, and I had a little child on top of it. We had some funny moments out and about in public. So many people I didn’t know became my friends and helped us out, and that’s what I love about the city.”
She reflected on how the kindness of strangers got her through the challenging time. “There was one incredible moment when I think I actually cried,” Holmes, now 44, said. “Suri was 6 or 7, and she was spending the night at a friend’s house while I was seeing the ballet at Lincoln Center. At 10 o’clock I got a call: ‘Mommy, can you come get me?’ I got a cab and went down to Battery Park to pick her up. She was exhausted. She fell asleep on the way home, and when we pulled up to our building, the cab driver opened the door and helped me not wake her. He helped carry her to the building. He was so kind.”
The proud mom has given us occasional glimpses into her and Suri’s life over the years and if those tidbits of information, and the rare paparazzi photo we get, are anything to go by, a now-17-year-old Suri is growing into a happy young woman. Still, the rumors continue to swirl about Cruise’s absence from his daughter’s life. The father-daughter duo have not been photographed together in over a decade and a March report stated that the actor is missing key events in Suri’s life such as her high school graduation and her college application process.
