LOS ANGELES — Tom Cruise filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit on Wednesday against magazines that claimed he had abandoned his daughter, Suri, following his divorce from actress Katie Holmes. The “Mission: Impossible” star filed the lawsuit in US court in Los Angeles against the publishers of celebrity magazines In Touch and Life & Style. “Tom is a caring father who dearly loves Suri. She's a vital part of his life and always will be. To say he has ‘abandoned' her is a vicious lie. To say it in lurid headlines with a tearful picture of Suri is reprehensible,” his attorney Bert Fields said. The lawsuit refers to two cover stories published by the magazines in July and September with the headlines “Abandoned by Daddy” and “Abandoned by her dad.” The September story from “In Touch” claimed that six-year-old Suri, the only child of Cruise and Holmes, had gone more 44 days without seeing him. Fields said that despite repeated stories in celebrity media about Cruise and his personal life during his 30-year Hollywood career, the actor rarely resorted to litigation. “He's not a litigious guy. But when these sleazy peddlers try to make money with disgusting lies about his relationship with his child, you bet he's going to sue,” he added. — Reuters
