Tom Cruise’s $50 Million Libel Lawsuit Gets Dirty — Attorneys Demand To Know Suri's 'Mental & Emotional' State'
Tom Cruise’s $50 million lawsuit against Bauer Media Group, the publisher of Life & Style is set to become really ugly — with the report that his daughter Suri is being dragged into the mess.
The Mission Impossible action star slapped a lawsuit on the tabloid in October after the magazine ran a story suggesting he had “abandoned” his daughter after his split from her mother Katie Holmes.
Now, as both sides gear up to go to battle they are demanding an ever-growing list of information from each other as part of the discovery process.
And the demands – if granted – could prove embarrassing for both the Hollywood star and the publisher.
In court papers filed on Thursday both parties outlined what each is seeking in discovery.
According to The Hollywood Reporter the attorney representing Bauer Media wants to know “the extent to which Cruise was in contact with Suri following his separation and divorce."
The publisher also demands to know the role the actor’s membership in the Church of Scientology played in his decisions regarding visiting and communicating with the six-year-old.
Bauer’s attorney Alonzo Wickers also demands to know what Suri’s mental and emotional state was following her parents’ separation and divorce.
And he has also made it clear that he is determined to examine the actor’s history of filing lawsuits.
But Cruise’s lawyer told the Reporter: “Tom doesn’t go around suing people. He’s not a litigious guy…”
In return, Cruise’s legal team wants Life & Style to reveal its anonymous sources and all their communication with them.
They also want to know what Bauer’s policies and practices are with respect to obtaining information from sources, paying those contacts and verifying the credibility of the people who supply them with information.
The legal team for the devout Scientologist also wants to examine what they call Bauer’s history of “bigotry and hatred toward minority religious groups and their members.”
Bauer is fighting back, however, by trying to exert the right of journalists to protect their sources.
If the case goes to trial, it is estimated it could last five days.