Naturally, this week’s tabloids have gone crazy (again) for the TomKat divorce, but I’ll get to that in just a moment. Here are some photos of Katie Holmes heading to Suri’s gymnastic class in NYC with a little friend in tow, which provides for a quick transition to his week’s Star (which we’ve already discussed for the Katie is too skinny and Nicole Kidman offered support angles), which poses the theory that, despite the divorce settlement, that nothing has really been settled in Tom’s eyes. Further and over the past two weeks, Tom’s “devastation has turned into anger and a sense of real injustice about the way he is not being portrayed in the media.” What’s fueling Tom’s fury even more than the sudden divorce? The fact that Katie’s spent the past few weeks doing normal things with Suri and being photographed doing so. This is pretty rich coming from the King of the Weekend Photo Op, but here’s Star’s take:
Katie, 33, parading Suri around for the cameras on the streets of New York City has only convinced Tom that she’s trying to turn the world against him — and his beloved religion, Scientology. But damaging public battles have never been Tom’s style, and winning custody of Suri was never his plan. Instead, Tom’s settlement with Katie allows him to engage in much longer battle for Suri, one away from the public eye.
Tom can now dig in for a protracted fight for influence over his daughter — much the same way he won over son and daughter Connor and Isabella, ultimately enjoying far more influence over them than their mother, Nicole Kidman. For starters, he is even considering buying a new private jet for flights between L.A. and New York so that he can spend as much time with his daughter as possible.
“He would make it very kid-friendly inside so she could enjoy the trip, and it would be on standby 24/7,” says the source. The jet alone is going to set him back at least $50 million, not to mention the fuel and insurance. But Tom doesn’t care at all. He will spare no expense on Suri. When it comes to spoiling her rotten, no one can do it like Tom. You better believe that will be a part of his game plan.”
[From Star, print edition, July 23, 2012]
Star also has added some bizarre details about how Katie has “quietly reestablished contact with many of her old friends,” and one of those “friends” just happens to be Chris Klein. Supposedly, Chris is “the first person she thinks to call when she is alone and can’t sleep,” and Chris is all “eager to meet up in person when Katie is ready.” LOL. I bet that Chris really would be excited if this really happened, but there’s no way in hell this went down. Right?
Meanwhile, The Enquirer has devoted two feature stories to the TomKat divorce. The first story is about Katie’s mid-June trip to Iceland, which is the last time she and Tom saw each other and endured an uncomfortable last supper together. This story goes on to discuss how (as Kaiser covered) Tom had his goons place duct tape over hotel security cameras — and the overriding theory is that Tom didn’t want anyone to know that he and Katie were sleeping separately and having problems. The second story is a lot more fun though because it’s the “Tom is a Monster” story that we covered yesterday that has Tom threatening to sue. Kaiser pointed out that it didn’t make much sense for Tom to get upset and “pushback” over allegations that Suri slept for five months in a small, windowless room — indeed, it seems silly because the full story itself is out now, and that’s the very least detail over which Tom should have freaked out. Here is the tabloid masterpiece in question (although I’ve cut out some filler paragraphs):
“THE REAL Tom Cruise is a monster!”
That’s what a member of Katie Holmes’ family told The Enquirer. And in a blockbuster world exclusive, The Enquirer can reveal Cruise and his Scientology family turned his $35 million Beverly Hills mansion into a “house of horrors” for Katie, holding her a virtual prisoner in her own home.
The devout Scientologist and his minions subjected his wife to relentless verbal abuse, emotional punishment, humiliation and intimidation, sources say, until Katie decided to break free of the controversial religion.
But when [Katie] told Cruise that she didn’t want their 6-year-old daughter Suri raised in the church, [Tom] flipped out, insiders say, and raged at Katie until she suffered a breakdown.
“Katie told Tom last year that she’d no longer be part of the Chruch of Scientology, and she didn’t want Suri raised solely as a Scientologist,” a paly of Katie’s told The Enquirer.
“Tom went nuts! He read Katie the riot act for four straight days until she was forced to apologize. Tom was verbally abusive and ordered Katie to never again mention her feelings about Scientology. When Katie finally got her father on the phone, she was crying hysterically. She was suffering a breakdown. I think Katie’s family felt Tom was basically holding her a virtual captive. Katie’s dad wanted her to see a professional therapist, but Tom refused,” said the source. “He said that if Katie had to see a counselor, it would be someone from Scientology.”
“But Tom knew he was losing control of Katie,” said the source. “When they had guests over, Tom told them that ‘Katie’s not been herself lately and that he really needed to watch her.’ By then, Katie had moved into a guest bedroom on their property.”
Raised a Roman Catholic, Katie immersed herself in Scientology within months of meeting Cruise. He approved her wardrobe and appeared to limit her contact with her parents by changing her phone number and e-mail address, sources said.
Meanwhile, their daughter Suri was hidden from the world until she was 5 months old and spent her time in a tiny wood-panelled room with no windows at their mansion in Telluride.
The twice-divorced star also used intimidation as a tool to keep his young wife in line, according to a Los Angeles insider. “One time when Katie and Suri were late for a flight, Tom lit into her, yelling, ‘I ask one simple thing — that you get yourself and my daughter here on time, and you can’t do that! Do you have an explanation? NO!’ It was verbal abuse.”
Cruise was even cruel enough to humilate Katie in front of her parents at a dinner party last year, said another eyewitness. “Tom had a stern, angry look on his face all night, and barked orders at Katie constantly!” said the source. “When it was time for dinner, Tom pointed to a chair and told Katie, ‘Sit there!’ Suri sat next to her, and then Tom seated his mother to his left. Tom believes the person who sits to his left is closest to his heart, and when he did that, Katie pulled her hair over her face to hide her tears.”
[From Enquirer, print edition, July 23, 2012]
It certainly sounds like Katie was experiencing the classic “walking on eggshells” syndrome that any verbally abused spouse would immediately recognize, and she was dealing with an egomaniacal tyrant who was used to everyone obeying his every wish, so I’m sure Katie felt that she was merely one of his pawns. Of course, I feel that any woman who felt it necessary to to use burner phones in order to file for divorce must certainly be afraid of her husband. So these allegations of verbal abuse come as no real shock.
Meanwhile, there are a few other TomKat stories floating around out there that are worth mentioning. First up is a TMZ story that claims that a quick divorce settlement did not occur to keep Katie quiet about Tom or CO$ because “Tom has nothing to hide” and “people are just making this stuff up.” Further, Tom is very disgusted with “the media firestorm which is replete with bogus information.” Of course.
There’s also a rather unbelievable tidbit (which originated in a British tabloid) about how Katie allegedly wants to change Suri’s name to “Scout Cruise Holmes.” Who makes this stuff up?
Let’s shift this discussion back to the the Enquirer’s story though — I fully believe that Tom was a verbally abusive little “monster” to Katie. Remember, he made a formerly vibrant 33-year-old woman look like this.
Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News, Fame/Flynet and Enquirer
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