Cruise has denied having "abandoned" his
daughter Suri following his divorce from Katie
Holmes last year, while acknowledging that he
has seen less of the seven-year-old.
In a statement filed in court this week, the US
actor said he had a "wonderful relationship"
with his daughter, who he said "has never
indicated … that she has ever felt abandoned
by me."
Tom with wife Katie Holmes and their daughter
Suri
Cruise launched legal action last year against
Bauer, the publishers of US magazines Life and
Style and InTouch for $50 million over covers
claiming he had abandoned his daughter.
A July 2012 edition of Life and Style splashed
the headline "Suri in tears, abandoned by her
dad," over a picture of the sobbing girl.
Holmes and Cruise had announced their split
the month before after six years of marriage,
and Suri was living with her mother.
In a two-page statement filed ahead of a new
court hearing later this month and published
by entertainment news website Radar Online,
Cruise said: "the assertion that I 'abandoned'
Suri after my divorce is patently false.
"I have in no way cut Suri out of my life —
whether physically, emotionally, financially or
otherwise. Even during the times when I was
overseas and not able to see Suri in person, we
were (and continued to be) extremely close."
Cruise, a prominent member of the Church of
Scientology, said he was out of the country
from June until December last year shooting
two back-to-back movies, while Suri lived with
her mother in New York.
"As a result of the changed circumstances
following the divorce, we were not able to see
each other as often as we did prior to the
divorce."
But he said: "As my numerous emails with
Suri's mother during this time period
demonstrate, I was a constant presence in
Suri's life during the time that defendants false
claim that I abandoned her.
"While I'm sure my daughter misses me when
I'm not with her (as I miss her), she is a very
happy child, and we have a wonderful
relationship and cheerful phone calls. She has
never indicated, in words or substance, that
she has ever felt abandoned by me."
Holmes announced on June 28 last year that
she was filing for divorce to end her five-year
marriage to Cruise, who was reportedly taken
completely by surprise by the bombshell.
The couple — who wed in November 2006
after a whirlwind romance and a proposal
beneath the Eiffel Tower in Paris — struck a
divorce settlement less than two weeks later.
A court hearing in the libel case is scheduled
on November 26, according to the statement
filed this week.
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