Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise Divorce: Scientology Played a Role in Split, He Admits in Deposition About Suri Cruise Abandonment Claims [PHOTOS]
Tom Cruise admitted in a court deposition that Scientology played a role in his divorce from Katie Holmes, according to an copy of the transcript obtained by Radar Online.
The actor made the statement in a deposition taken Sept. 9 in Los Angeles as part of a lawsuit he filed against Bauer Publishing. Cruise suing for $50 million over two tabloid stories that claimed he "abandoned" his 7-year-old daughter, Suri Cruise, after his 2012 divorce from Holmes.
In the deposition, Cruise was asked by a lawyer for Bauer if Holmes left him to "protect" Suri from Scientology.
"I find that question offensive. ... There is no need to protect my daughter from my religion," Cruise responded.
Cruise said he has worked hard to develop a phone relationship with his young daughter.
"You have to work at it," he told the lawyer. "I've gotten very good at it. I've gotten very good at it. I tell wonderful stories and they like hearing it."
Questions also centered on his absense on Suri's first day of school and why he was able to fly from the U.S. to London for a Scientology event but did not make a similar effort to see his daughter. He again responded by citing his filming commitments and coordinating schedules with Holmes.
"When a divorce occurs things change. And it's more complicated...you now have to ask for permission and organize schedules to make things happen. So it wasn't -- it's not an ideal scene. It's not an ideal situation," he said. "What doesn't change is the love I have for my daughter, the fact that I didn't abandon her emotionally, physically or otherwise."
