Tom Cruise Allegedly Believes Suri Isn't His Daughter — Why He Didn't See Her For Years
Is this why he hadn't seen her in five years?
Getty We’ll begin with a very brief history of the Hollywood A-list actor, Tom Cruise. He was born in Syracuse, New York on July 3, 1962. He spent his childhood in Ottawa, Canada, and then moved back to the states when his parents split. He began his blockbuster film career in 1981 with Endless Love, and I’ll save you the long list of subsequent films in which he appeared.
In 1987, Cruise married Mimi Rogers, and then divorced her 1990—but not before she introduced him to the Church of Scientology, which Cruise claimed cured his dyslexia. Scientology’s fundamental tenet is that humans are spiritual beings. It also thinks of life in terms of compartmentalized urges, but the former is more relevant to the whole Cruise snafu.
All in all, there’s a lot to unpack here, from celebrity drama to religious philosophy. Lucky for you, I did all the unpacking. Read on for a concise explanation of what’s going on with Tom Cruise, his daughter, and Scientology.
Is Suri Tom Cruise's daughter?
In Scientology, humans are spiritual beings, which they call thetan.
The term thetan comes from the Greek letter theta for “thought” or “life” or “the spirit.” Scientology uses this word to avoid confusion with other conceptions of the soul (between religious, philosophical, and mythological theories, there are many). The soul, or thetan, according to Scientology (and honestly, quite a few other theories) animates the body and is immortal. It has lived and will continue to live through countless lifetimes. It’s like reincarnation, which is a central tenet of a few Indian religions like Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Hinduism, as well as some esoteric beliefs in Orthodox Judaism. In other words, it’s not a wildly novel idea.
Cruise hasn’t said that he doesn’t believe Suri is his daughter.
It was only in an exclusive interview that former Scientologist Sam Domingo claimed that Cruise “likely believes that his daughter, Suri, whom he shares with ex Katie Holmes, is nothing more than just a ‘being’ who he will see again in another lifetime” Domingo said. “I’m sure if he could rescue Suri from the clutches of her mom he [would]. But you know what? He can get her in the next lifetime so it doesn’t really matter. She’s not really his daughter.” It’s a stretch, for sure, and not at all a valid excuse for choosing not to be in your child’s life, but at least we can make sense of it in light of the soul/thetan explanation above. Most likely, he only means she’s not his daughter in the spiritual sense.
The 2012 divorce settlement between Cruise and Holmes allows Cruise to see Suri up to 10 days a month, but he chooses to not exercise that right.
A 2018 report says that Cruise isn’t a part of his youngest daughter’s life even though he could be. A source said, “He chooses not to because she is not a Scientologist.” (It’s unclear whether “she” is Suri or Holmes). Reportedly, Holmes gave the Church of Scientology a try during her six-year marriage to Cruise but the cult-like practices just weren’t for her. Reports said she was concerned that Suri, who was turning seven at the time of their divorce, “was getting to an age when the Church would expect to exercise increasing control over her upbringing and education.” The report also noted that Cruise hasn’t been photographed with Suri since 2013, however a 2019 report says after not seeing Suri for six years (!!!), Cruise finally reunited with his ostracized daughter.
Cruise allegedly stays away from Suri because he’s a very loyal Scientologist.
Whether that loyalty is passive or active I can’t confirm, though. A 2018 report claims Scientology leaders told Cruise he should stay away from his daughter because she what’s known as a “suppressive person,” and since Cruise is oh-so loyal, he didn’t question it. According to Scientology’s website, a Suppressive Person (SP) is “a person who seeks to suppress other people in their vicinity. … The Suppressive Person is also known as the Anti-Social Personality. Within this category one finds Napoleon, Hitler, the unrepentant killer, and the drug lord. But if such are easily spotted, if only from the bodies they leave in their wake, Anti-Social Personalities also commonly exist in current life and often go undetected.”
Holmes probably signed a nondisclosure agreement when she divorced Cruise, which prohibits her from saying “anything bad about Scientology.”
It was the only way to secure primary custody of Suri, according to Tony Ortega, the former editor-in-chief of The Village Voice who runs a daily blog about Scientology called The Underground Bunker and has been writing critically about Scientology for some time now. Ortega said, “She wanted to get away and she wanted to get Suri.” In an earlier interview, actress Leah Remini, a former Scientologist and host of the A&E investigative series called Scientology and the Aftermath, assumes that Cruise’s second ex-wife, Nicole Kidman, also signed a non-disclosure agreement.
Along the same lines, Domingo claimed Cruise is “not allowed spiritual counseling in the church if he has any connection with Katie, so Suri would be collateral damage. He can’t be in any communication with Katie.” Now that sounds like a cult.
In summation, Suri is indeed Cruise’s daughter.
According to biology, they are father and daughter. According to Scientology, they are strangers who might meet again in another lifetime, and anyone who disagrees with their beliefs is a dirty, dirty liar motivated by greed and anger. According to Cruise, #scientologyislife. (He even moved into a custom multi-million dollar penthouse located in Clearwater, Florida just 400 yards away from the Church of Scientology’s “Flagship” building back in February).
According to Holmes, getting Cruise to see Suri isn’t worth her efforts because Scientology would come after her legally and anyway, she already has custody of her daughter. According to Kidman, Cruise and Scientology stole her children, as the organization worked to estrange her from Isabella, 24, and Connor, 22, after their divorce.
Leah Scher is an ENFP finishing her degree at Brandeis University. She's an alumna of the Kenyon Review Young Writer's Workshop the Iowa Young Writers' Studio. She's passionate about Judaism, poetry, film, satire, astrology, spirituality, and sexual health.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on July 26, 2019 and was updated with the latest information.