As we discussed last week, Katie Holmes’ Town&Country interview drove home many points about the shift in Katie’s life since she left her marriage to Tom Cruise. Prior to that relationship, Katie, like most actresses, was working as hard as she could to forge a career in an unforgiving industry. After she had Suri, her focus shifted to Suri’s safety. Although she has never said it, it’s widely understood that Katie saw the bleak existence Suri would have within the confines of Scientology and got her the hell out of it while she still could. Since that flight, Katie has worked hard to provide a stable environment for Suri. Fortunately, she has been able to cater her career to do just that. Katie recently slipped behind the camera to try her hand at directing and found that she’s comfortable there. Comfortable enough that she’s considering giving up acting for directing full time because it will allow for a more “normal” childhood for Suri.
Katie Holmes has had many acting roles, including portraying Jackie Kennedy twice, but her most fulfilling role is being a mother to 10-year-old daughter Suri Cruise, her only child with ex-husband Tom Cruise.
“This business is so unstable, and you never really know where you’re going to be … My child is the most important person to me, and her upbringing is paramount to my work right now,” Holmes, 38, shared for Town & Country‘s April issue.
“It’s very important that I’m present and she has a stable, innocent childhood. I feel so blessed to do what I do, but there’s nothing in the world better than watching your child succeed,” the mother of one continued.
It obviously resonates when Katie uses a word like “unstable” because she has been in the most unstable of situations. And Hollywood is notoriously unstable. I know Katie has a lot of support from her family and a pretty strong network of friends so it sounds like she has a good safety net. I think any of us who have safety nets within our families, jobs and/or friends understands how lucky we are to have them.
As for the general thought about providing “a stable and innocent childhood,” I am not an actress and my lifestyle is pretty middle of the road in most ways but I have recently been made aware how hard that is to provide your child, despite your privilege or lack thereof. I know we have heard this narrative from Katie before but I wonder if the reason she talks so much about it is not because it’s so hard for her to do.
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I’m sure her prenup said that Suri would get $200.000 a month until she is 18.
I understand Katie loves her daughter and she fears that CO$ will eventually go after her but let’s be real here… Suri has nothing to worry about in terms of monetary stability. I wouldn’t worry about Co$ too much.. if they didn’t try to get Suri back straight after the divorce I’d say she is pretty much safe now.
If Katie is so worried she should put the money Tom gives her every month in a trust fund and keep her father close. He was such a vital element in the outcome of her divorce that she should have him handle everything in the future.
I’ve seen women not been given what they were legally entitled to post divorce. Especially when it comes to child support- some fathers don’t pay it all, pay it late or pay less than they should. The emotional labour & legal fees required to get it mean some mothers decide they are better off focusing on their careers so they can be in a position to solely support their child. Obviously lots of fathers don’t do this and are very supportive!
However given that Tom Cruise is in a cult and probably hasn’t bothered to see his daughter in years I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s chosen to forego his financial responsibilities to Suri Cruise.
Plus given their track record the CoS only choose to leave Katie alone because of the visibility fame provides her. If she is still wary of them I think she has every reason to be.
It seems to me that the most famous people, who have the most to lose reputation-wise, would be the least likely to not pay everything they are legally obligated to pay.
Sure, they may spend small fortunes for the craftiest lawyers, and another small fortune slowly dragging it out in a war of attrition, trying for the smallest payments, but once the amount is set, they will pay.
A media-conscious man like Tom Cruise would comply because he wouldn’t want to give ammunition to the other side to use against him in a media war.
I think CoS is one of the reasons Katie allows her daughter to be papped with her – if both are visible then it makes it harder for them to harass. From what stories I’ve read followers thought Suri, as the ‘bio’ child of Cruise, was some sort of reincarnation of Hubbard. Plus there are the rumours that Suri isn’t Tom’s biologically, its well known he’s struggled to father children naturally (the rumours at the time of his divorce from Kidman was that he didn’t think the child she was pregnant with, and miscarried, was his).
I agree. I also think paolanqar is extremely naive on Scientology. They can and have done U Turns on situations decades later. It all comes down to how suppressive they perceive Katie to be. If they ever heard that Katie explicitly make anti Tom or anti Scientology statement they WOULD come out gloves fighting.
I also expect they will make a play for Suris conversion in her teens when she is most desperate for a dad figure and rebelling against the only parental authority she knows. I dont know how they will do it but lets remember that they once tricked a female journalist into falling in love and co-habiting with an under cover Scientologist. He then fed the cult information on her work, her movements and even the clothes she wore everyday. Tony Ortega captures that creepy story in his book The Unbreakable Miss Lovely.
Hi Digital Unicorn
yes that story has been around for ages but looking at Suri there is no doubt she is Tom’s daughter. She looks so much like him!
Bree I am not so naive on Scientology. I know what you mean, I agree with you. I was just implying that if she keeps her family and friends close, and as Digital Unicorn says, the paps around her, she is pretty safe for the time being.
I think katie comes from a very loving and close family, I don’t think her father sleeps tight at night and they always are very aware of what the risks are. It seems to me that Katie is raising Suri with an iron fist when it comes to protect her and if Tom relented a bit in not trying to have Suri’s custody straight after the divorce, something tells me he gave up on her. We will see what happens when she’ll be 18. Hopefully her mother will be able to instill in Suri the danger of Scientology and that fear will drive her to push all those parassistes away.
I have nothing but the utmost respect for Katie.
@paolanqar – hello, yes she does but she also looks a lot like Danny Masterson (who looks a bit like Cruise). But hey its all conspiracy theories.
Given that Katie basically got Tom to back off and not sue of joint/sole custody of Suri means that she has something very damaging on him. Her divorce was all over and done very quickly, with no drama. I think thats where the stories about him not being Suri’s father came from – a fact that was used against him in the divorce. I hope Katie and her family are instilling a fear of CoS into Suri as they will go after her when she’s an adult and I think Tom is biding his time until she is. I’ll bet as soon as she’s 18 he’ll be the super father who’s papped with her every day. There is still a lot to fear from them.
I dunno. She could have waived high child support from Tom to insure she would retain sole physical and legal custody. I wouldnt blame her in her scenario if she did. I’m sure she got some money, but I also wouldn’t doubt she worries about the money running out.
There’s no part of me that thinks she’s talking about financial stability here. Obviously Suri will not suffer for lack of financial means. It’s harder to raise a child (especially in these circumstances – father in a cult, no real possibility of an ongoing relationship) with a sense of their own value and strength, and to hopefully have that so engrained in them that it will see them through the experiences they will face in our admittedly problematic world.
I didn’t get the impression the “stability” she’s talking about has anything to do with money.
agree completely. I think she means not moving around, not being on movie sets all the time, and having a “normal” childhood with friends and playgrounds, not auditing and slave labor.
The child support for Suri is $450,000 a year. A few years ago katie petitioned to have it increased and I don’t know what happened with that. Surely the deadbeat dad could cough up a little more money and perhaps by doing so appease any guilt he may or may not have because he has no contact with his daughter. I hope this is correct as I would not like to say that if he does in fact see her.
I’m sure they’ll try to lure her when she’s older, being that her father is a demigod in his religion. i hope Katie is able to create that stability ans self esteem in her child strong enough so she does not fall for these sycophants. She seems to be doing well.
Being a traveling famous actress is one thing, the father being the poster boy of this cult is a whole different level.
Yeah, there’s a lot to read between the lines in her words. Must be beyond tricky to navigate discussions about Suri’s father and his life. My heart goes out to Katie and Suri.
I just finished reading Leah Remini’s book Troublemaker and I thought I knew about that cult, but omg… I totally believe they will go after Suri when she’s older.
It’s nice to see that little girl smiling.
She’s going to directing? But let’s be honest she was an ok actress. She is no longer in DEMAND.
Kidman really has talent though she’s ruined that w her Botox and such.
I do think she does want to give Suri stability based on her own upbringing
What’s preventing Katie from dropping Cruise as Suri’s last name. If she has no contact with him she should be Suri Homes.
I’m sure she legally is but the media won’t report that…
Genuine Question: Why is she even covered anymore as a celeb.. all her Interviews are about Being Private and Suri and the wondrousness of Suri and Motherhood, There is no good Fashion, no Movies really ( lets be honest she releases a Lifetime level movie once every two years but floppy socks the promotion being weird vague”private” and Child rearing talking) ya’ll WANT her to be really in a Romance with Fox but even that is suspect as hell that is even happening.. so..Back to My OG question: Why are we still caring about Blandie Holmes ( I Mean one could argue she has Successfully Oatmealed neutered and Doused any interest we could have in her.. but on the other hand How many more Motherhood Interviews we got?)
Thank you QQ for finally say what I have been thinking we get she a single mother but she get 400,000 a month in child support so she can afford the best of every thing it can’t be really hard ? The best thing about katie Holmes was that she got with tom she really isn’t a great actresses
I think she *could* make for good gossip. It’s the cult piece that makes it juicy (or could be juicy). I click and read and always think “she knows sooooo much. Maybe there will be a crumb of something.” But then always disappointed. Ugh. I am hoping that some day, when Suri is grown, she will say something about the cult but I doubt it. So even though she is bland as ever, she has this air of mystery since you know- secret phones, spies, cults…..but even she makes that boring!
What would stop her from talking once Suri is 18+? Would Scientology sue her? That would end horribly for them because there would be a long list of former scientologist that could back up any claim Katie makes. I feel like Katie’s silence is to protect her daughter from Tom trying to get custody.
I agree with you that as celebrities go, calling Katie Holmes one is a pretty generous stretch. However… I mean, I’ll always read a Katie Holmes story for one reason and one reason only: I want to understand how a person as aggressively bland as she certainly seems to be managed to get up enough gumption to pull off such a flawless coup de gras on the cult that is Scientology: Brought To You By Tom Cruise. Of course I know she had a lot of help, but still… Katie Friggin Holmes, one of the most unrelentingly boring people ever to get in front of a camera, basically told TC & The Xenu Gang to go eff themselves in the a… and she did it publicly.
Hells yes, she’s Privileged. But also… I just would never have thought she’d have it in her to bust out of Thetan Jail or whatever.
Why is it a stretch she is someone that was once on a successful TV show and has been in movies. She may not be in demand as she once was but that could be said about a lot of actors/actresses that people talk about that haven’t been in anything in years either.
I mean why is her being considered a celeb more insulting than the reality hobags that are on these magazines unless its because you hate her than that’s another story.
Ok Beer&Crumpets MC2 I will allow and accept that we keep her around for the Antique/Vintage Gossip cultural moment/Possible reveal … but GMAFB can we stop minding her at all until the Definitive Book/Interview/comes out? a Proper Man that is able to be seen in the daylight Turns up? a FROCK a Fashion Moment truly presents?! ( LOL that’s never gonna happen but) SOME-THING! Is honestly not unlike when the attempt is made to Make something outta one of George Clooney’s Ex Cadre of Waitresses like.. we cared then, not so much now, there is nothing but a blank slate
I don’t have any interest in Katie Holmes as an actor. She’s bland. However, she’s one of the few famous people where I approve of her staying in the limelight even though she really doesn’t do much. I even approve of her calling the paps! It’s a canny form of self-preservation and protection that neuters CO$. Having a profile gives her power, makes it really hard for the cult to make a sneaky move. Basically, she looked at what happened to Kidman who foolishly tried to play fair with a bunch of scary nutjobs and did the opposite.
I think Katie has done a great job with Suri. Love her
Katie is one of the heroines of the anti-$cientology movement. As well she should be. That she successfully dumped cult-zombie Tom Cruise – Mr. Big Being – and his merry band of live in spies and handlers was nothing short of a miracle. And yes, she surely had a lot on Cruise to enable her to get a settlement agreement in what, 15 days?
If Cruise does not see his child it is because he does not want to see the child. For whatever reason. But remember, Cruise’s “Source” of all wisdom and knowledge is L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of $cientology. He was a man who abandoned his first wife and children, bigamously married a second wife with whom he had a daughter and later denied paternity.
There was obviously a very strong non-disclosure portion to the Cruise/Holmes settlement agreement. And it must have gone both ways because in addition to Katie not talking about either Cruise himself or the “cherch”, $cientology doesn’t smear Katie like they do so many others who have left. Like Leah Remini and many others.
Every time I read about Holmes I am pleased for her & Suri that they got out when they did. Hope they find some normality.