Tom Cruise denies abandoning daughter Suri

Tom Cruise called reports that he had abandoned his daughter Suri after his divorce from actress Katie Holmes “patently false” in court documents for a defamation and invasion of privacy lawsuit against a German media company. In a declaration that offered a rare glimpse into the actor’s marriage and his Scientology beliefs, Cruise denied he had cut Suri out of his life. The declaration was filed this week in California federal court as part of the ongoing lawsuit, which is asking for $50 million in damages.

In a September video deposition as part of the lawsuit, Cruise’s life with Holmes and Suri came under scrutiny. In court transcripts, the 51-year-old actor said that while Holmes, 34, was a practitioner of Scientology before and during their marriage, she left the church when she filed for divorce.

He said one of Holmes’ “assertions” for the divorce was that she wanted to protect Suri from Scientology. He added that 7-year-old Suri, his daughter from his marriage to Holmes, was not currently practising it.

The initial lawsuit was filed by Cruise in October 2012 against Bauer Publishing Company, after the company’s magazines had published reports claiming Cruise had abandoned Suri following the couple’s 2012 divorce. “‘Has he chosen Scientology over Suri for good? Abandoned by Daddy.’ I mean come on, that is absolutely disgusting. That is absolutely disgusting,” Cruise said in the video deposition.

“I’m very privileged to be able to have the life that I have, and I believe that. But there is a line that - that I draw for myself and - and that’s it. And I asked for an apology. I asked for a retraction. They denied it.”

The court transcripts from the September 9 deposition showed that Cruise had only seen Suri for 10 days in the immediate five months after Holmes filed for divorce from the actor in June 2012. The actor said he found questions regarding whether Holmes had left him and Scientology to protect their daughter “offensive,” and said “there are many different other aspects to the divorce.”

“Like with any relationship, there are many different levels to it ... I find it very offensive. There is no need to protect my daughter from my beliefs,” he said.

Representatives for Cruise did not immediately return requests for comment.