Katie’s Revenge Romance:
JAMIE WHO? KATIE HOLMES AND JUSTIN THEROUX RECENTLY MET UP FOR A ROMANTIC EVENING AT A NEW YORK CITY RESTAURANT.
Jamie who? Months after her split from Jamie Foxx, Katie Holmes has a romantic evening with Jennifer Aniston’s ex.
IT was a special occasion, so Katie Holmes wanted to look her very best. And she knew just who to turn to for guidance: her stylish 13-year-old daughter, Suri Cruise. Together they picked out the perfect outfit for Katie — something casual, but with an edge. “Suri helped her mom decide what shoes to wear, which pair of earrings, even what perfume to dab on,” says an insider. After some finishing touches, the actress was all dressed up and ready to go. But she wasn’t heading to a red carpet event. She was on her way to a hot date — with hunky actor Justin Theroux! As Star can exclusively reveal, 40-year-old Katie — who split from her on-again, off-again boyfriend of six years, Jamie Foxx, in August — and The Leftovers actor, 48, had a top-secret meetup at a quiet, tucked-away restaurant in New York City. And the date was quite a success. “It was very romantic,” the insider says of the intimate dinner. “Justin and Katie hit it off immediately. It was pretty much the ultimate first date.” All the better for Katie to stick it to her notoriously unfaithful ex. Says a source, “Friends are calling it a revenge romance!” Justin had picked the place. Over candlelight, the duo spent four hours talking and getting cozy. “They were laughing a lot,” says the source. While both Katie and Justin had already done some recon on each other, “they
got to know each other really well” during the relaxed evening, says the insider. “They asked a lot of personal questions,” reveals the source. “There were no lulls in the conversation, no awkward moments,” reveals the source. (Reps for both Katie and Justin deny they went on a date.) “Neither of them realized how much time went by.”
STICKING IT TO THEIR EXES
It’s a pairing few saw coming — especially Justin’s ex. Justin and Jennifer Aniston have been on great terms since ending their nearly three-year marriage in 2018. In fact, Justin just recently announced he was “proud” of 50-year-old Jen for finally joining Instagram, adding, “The world’s about to learn what a hilarious woman she is.” (“I swear I didn’t mean to break it,” she posted about the internet after she amassed a million followers in a record-breaking five hours,16 minutes.) The friendly exes “are in a good place,” says the source. “They talk and truly want the best for each other.”
But Jen is less than thrilled with the latest development. “Jen and Katie have been friendly over the years,” notes a source. “They always stop to say hello when they see each other,” the insider says, adding that Jen has always respected how Katie handled her 2012 divorce from Tom Cruise. “She admired how Katie stayed out of the fray and just focused on Suri.” Katie, meanwhile, is a huge fan of Friends and Jen’s other work. “They’re not BFFs,” says the insider, “but they respect and just really like each other.”
Jen’s good feelings don’t extend to Katie dating Justin, however. “Jen isn’t happy about it,” reveals the source. “She’s gone as far as calling Katie a has-been. It’s become very twisted.”
Friends, on the other hand, think Justin and Katie would make the perfect match. “They’re both artsy and love indie films,” says the source. (Katie’s won praise for such small films as Pieces of April and made her Broadway debut in All My Sons.) And they’re both tried-and-true New Yorkers — which was a point of
“Katie couldn’t wait to tell her girlfriends and her sisters about the date. She bragged about it like a schoolgirl.” — a friend tells Star
contention for Jen and Justin when they were together, with Justin wanting to stay on the East Coast and Jen wanting to live in L.A. It won’t be an issue for Justin and Katie. “They both love New York City,” says the insider. Indeed, Ohio native Katie, a familiar face at Whole Foods, SoulCyle and other city spots, has said, “I love the theater, the galleries in my neighborhood… I love the community in New York.” Meanwhile, dive-bar-loving Justin and some friends opened a lowkey watering hole called Ray’s on the city’s trendy Lower East Side in July.
PERFECT TIMING
Katie and Justin’s recent rendezvous wasn’t their first meeting. They’d been introduced years earlier, when her exhusband, Tom Cruise, was working with Justin on Tropic Thunder, which Justin cowrote. “She’s always thought he was good-looking, edgy and interesting,” says the insider. However, the timing for potential romance was never right. After her divorce from Tom, Katie moved on with Jamie Foxx, and for a while, many thought she’d found Mr. Right. The two kept their relationship under wraps for ages before finally going public in September 2017. But their tumultuous love affair was plagued by rumors that Jamie had a wandering eye and was stepping out on Katie. In February 2019, Jamie told fans he was single — and was spotted with a mystery brunette shortly after. But by April, he and Katie had reunited, and were seen getting ice cream together. They then happily posed for photos together at the Met Gala in May, after which Jamie’s daughter Corinne told reporters her dad and Katie “were really happy.”
In August, the Oscar winner was linked to yet another woman, this time the recording artist Sela Vave. Later that month, reps for both stars confirmed that Jamie and Katie had called it quits. Insiders speculated that Katie had had enough of Jamie’s hard partying. “For months he’s been promising to calm his wild ways, but nothing’s changed,” said a source at the time. “Katie’s finally come to the conclusion that she wants to be with a guy who’s more mature and ready to settle down.”
And Justin has a lot of qualities Katie’s looking for. “She needed to f ind a middle ground — someone between Tom and
Jamie,” says the source. “Justin isn’t controlling like Tom and he’s not a player like Jamie. He fits the bill.” Since what he’s called his “heartbreaking yet gentle” divorce from Jen, the actor’s been linked to a slew of women, including Spider-Man beauty Laura Harrier, Emma Stone, Olivia Munn and Elizabeth Hurley, to name a few. None of those relationships stuck — but pals are hoping his budding romance with Katie will have more staying power.
With Justin, Katie can check off a lot of boxes. “He’s sexy and smart,” says the insider. The nephew of famed writer Paul Theroux, he’s a grad of artsy Bennington College. (Bookish Katie was accepted to the Ivy League Columbia University before choosing to pursue acting instead.) But the tattooed, motorcyle-riding Justin still had to be vetted by one very important person: Katie’s daughter, Suri! “When Katie told Suri who she was going on a date with, Suri Googled Justin,” says the source. She liked what she saw, adds the insider, “and convinced her mom to go for it.”
HEATING UP
Katie’s hoping she and Justin will link up again soon. “She couldn’t wait to tell her girlfriends and her sisters about their first date,” says the insider. “She bragged about it like a schoolgirl crushing on the most popular boy in school. She’s so into it!”
Justin is smitten too. “He wants to see Katie again,” says the insider. He even texted the Ray Donovan actress the following day. “Katie and Justin are actually a very good match. She thinks he’s hot as hell, and he says he never really knew how funny and sexy Katie is,” says the source. Their chemistry is off the charts, and their friends are all for it. “Katie and Justin both deserve happiness,” says the insider. “Everyone is rooting for them.”