Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes: Joint Statement, DIVORCE SETTLED, She Rejoins Catholic Church
July 9, 2012 by Hollywoodite
This has moved very, very quickly. In the space of just over one week, the divorce backslid from platitudes and shock to allegations, leaks, and mud slinging. And, today, it’s all effectively over. Katie Holmes won, with only a few concessions that were probably not worth fighting over.
Tom Cruise had been slammed in the press, with his asleep at the wheel legal team dragging their feet in working this out. They were “shocked.” Stunned into disarray and disorder and it’s taken about 11 days (June 28 to July 9) to regroup. And, now, do you see? THIS is how Scientology functions when it’s working at full speed; this is it working to behoove Cruise in any way it can. In this instance, they’re probably advising Cruise not to risk information leaking in soundbites over the next 10 years that may harm the church.
Scientology doctrine says “Don’t ever defend, always attack,” so Cruse can blackball and smear Holmes at will. However, this isn’t 2001, when he divorced Nicole Kidman. Nor is this the 1950s, when those pre-Internet rules were written. In the words of former high ranking Scientologist Marty Rathbun, the best course of action now would be to “let Katie have everything she wants.”
Over the weekend, Cruise went into “crisis mode,” then immediately into divorce negotiations. During those talks, Cruise conceded that, yes, he would consider giving his estranged wife primary physical/ residential custody so long as he, as the father, was not denied visitation. Then it was over. As quickly as it began.
They issued a weirdly-worded joint statement this morning, probably written by his people, which said: “We are committed to working together as parents to accomplish what is in our daughter Suri’s best interests. We want to keep matters affecting our family private and express our respect for each other’s commitment to each of our respective beliefs and support each other’s roles as parents.”
Very soon after that, another surprise announcement: they’ve SETTLED.
Her lawyer, Jonathan Wolfe, confirmed in a statement: ‘The case has been settled and the agreement has been signed. We are thrilled for Katie and her family and are excited to watch as she embarks on the next chapter of her life. This result could not have been achieved without the hard work of my partner Gary Skoloff and our co-counsel Allan Mayefsky, Michael Mosberg and Larry Trachtenberg of Aronson Mayefsky and Sloan and Peter Walzer and Chris Melcher of Walzer & Melcher in California. We thank Tom’s counsel for their professionalism and diligence that helped bring about this speedy resolution.”
According to People.com, they have joint legal custody, Holmes has primary physical custody although Cruise has “generous visitation” rights. But Holmes is the decision-maker and they live in New York City now.
Holmes will return to work this week, and, hilariously, her first new project is a movie she co-wrote and co-produced called Molly in which the protagonist is a single mother who has a daughter. Subtle.
Better still, Holmes immediately returned to Catholicism, in which she was raised. She registering as a parishioner at the Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York City. A member of the church choir tells The Huffington Post: “Everyone is thrilled to have Katie join us. She has not yet attended a service, but when she does she will be welcomed with open arms.”