Tom Cruise's estranged daughter Suri is now 18. Photos / Getty Images
Tom Cruise's estranged daughter Suri is now 18. Photos / Getty Images
Tom Cruise’s daughter Suri, who he welcomed with Katie Holmes in 2006, is celebrating her 18th birthday today. Now an adult, will she reach out to her estranged father?
Suri was photographed out and about in New York City on her birthday, seen holding a gift bag while walkingwith a friend. Meanwhile, her father is busy filming Mission: Impossible in the UK, reports the Daily Mail.
According to the Daily Mail, Suri has no plans to mend that rift. Now 18, she is officially able to make her own decisions, and while sources claim she is still deciding what to pursue in terms of a career, one thing is clear: “Tom does not exist to her”.
As of today, Cruise is no longer required to pay child support to Holmes - a reported sum of $400,000 (NZ$677,620) a year.
“Suri will not have any contact with her father, despite being 18, and even if he called, she would not answer,” one source told the outlet.
“He does not exist to Katie or Suri, and his daughter does not want to rely on him for anything. She feels that she has one parent and that is her mother.”
Suri reportedly has no plans to pursue a career in acting like her famous parents. According to insiders, she wishes to be a “private citizen” as much as she is able to.
Katie Holmes gained sole custody of daughter Suri, pictured here in 2021. Photo / Getty Images
The source claims she is “currently weighing up her options for the future”, following claims last year that she was “leaning towards” studying fashion in New York.
It comes years after the breakdown of her parents’ seeming fairytale romance. Cruise famously declared his love for Holmes on Oprah’s couch in 2005, and just months later the pair married in a lavish ceremony covered by Hello! magazine.
But just five and a half years after their wedding, Holmes filed for divorce, leaving Cruise “deeply saddened”.
At the time, Suri was just 6 - and quickly found herself at the centre of the controversial split, which was reportedly due to Cruise’s Scientology connections.
It's reported that Tom Cruise's Scientology faith keeps him from seeing his daughter. Photo / Getty Images
Amid questions over whether Suri would follow in her father’s footsteps, Holmes stepped in and was given sole custody of her daughter.
Since the Top Gun star is still a high-profile figure in the controversial church, ex-members have suggested his faith keeps him from seeing his daughter. Samantha Domingo, who left Scientology in 2004, claimed in 2019 that Cruise was “not allowed” to see Suri because she was not in the church.
She told US Weekly that the church does not view Suri as Cruise’s daughter due to their belief in reincarnation, instead seeing her as “a spiritual being in his daughter’s body”.
A Scientology spokesperson has since responded to the claims, calling them “fiction”.
