MESSY DIVORCE
LOS ANGELES — Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes settled their divorce on Monday, taking less than two weeks to end a nearly six- year marriage that captivated the world and prompted questions about raising their daughter in the Church of Scientology.
Mission: Impossible star Cruise, 50, married Holmes, 33, who first gained fame on television drama Dawson’s Creek, in a glamorous wedding in an Italian castle in November 2006. Suri was born about six months earlier.
The couple and their young daughter became a favourite of celebrity magazines and seemed happy until late last month when Holmes filed for a divorce in New York. Her move surprised fans and even Cruise, who was in Iceland shooting a movie.
Since then, the media has speculated that the pair differed on raising 6-yearold Suri as a Scientologist, although neither they nor their attorneys would comment on the matter.
“The case has been settled and the agreement has been signed. We are thrilled for Katie and her family and are excited to watch as she embarks on the next chapter of her life,” Holmes’s attorney, Jonathan Wolfe of New Jersey-based firm Skoloff & Wolfe, said in a statement.
Cruise lawyer Bert Fields also released a statement saying, “Tom is really pleased we got there, and so am I.”
But there was no direct comment from either of the stars. Instead, they issued a statement ahead of the announcement.
“We are committed to working together as parents to accomplishing what is in our daughter Suri’s best interests,” the pair said in a joint statement. “We want to keep matters affecting our family private and express our respect for each other’s commitment to each of our respective beliefs and support each other’s roles as parents.”
Representatives and attorneys for both actors declined any comments beyond their statements.
Paul Talbert, a family law attorney with New Yorkbased firm Chemtob Moss Forman & Talbert, called the speed of negotiations and settlement — Holmes initially filed for divorce on June 28 — fast for such a high-profile couple with abundant assets.
“Cases with so many mov- ing parts do not routinely resolve themselves in a matter of 10 days. We obviously have one or two extremely motivated people,” Talbert said.
He added it was difficult to speculate accurately about settlement details, and added that media coverage about Cruise and Scientology likely played a role in the speedy finish.
“Nobody wins in a messy public battle, and you certainly have two concerned parents here that recognized Suri definitely loses if this is a public divorce,” Talbert said.