Signs Tom Cruise's Relationship With Daughter Suri Is Tarnished

Suri Cruise was the world's most famous toddler during the late aughts. She was the apple of her dad's eye, and you'd rarely see him out without her cradled in his arms. However, Tom's relationship with Suri changed drastically after Katie Holmes blindsided her husband of five-and-a-half years by filing for divorce in 2012, moving out of the family home with their daughter and making NYC their permanent residence. It seemed like the end of Tom and Holmes' marriage also fractured his relationship with Suri, and things have never been the same since.

"That time was intense. It was a lot of attention, and I had a little child on top of it," Holmes told InStyle in August 2023 of her post-divorce struggle. Their new life in Manhattan was like night and day compared to the crazy Hollywood days with Tom when Suri made the cover of Vanity Fair at just 3 months old, and Forbes named her "Hollywood's Hottest Tot" when she was two. Suri wore lipstick, nail polish, and sparkly kitten heels before she turned three. The pre-schooler reportedly had a wardrobe worth $3 million and starred in a genius Tumblr blog, Suris Burn Book.

Still, it all came to a screeching halt after Tom and Holmes' messy divorce. Suddenly, there were no photos of him and Suri out together, and reports surfaced they no longer had contact. The speculation has never been confirmed, but there are plenty of signs that Tom's relationship with Suri is tarnished.

According to Hello!, Suri Cruise has not been using Tom Cruise's last name. Since becoming of legal age in the USA, after turning 18 on April 18, 2024, Suri appears to have taken Katie Holmes' middle name as her new family moniker — on at least one occasion, anyway. Suri's original birth certificate, filed on May 5, 2006, by an unnamed friend of her parents, states she was born at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, to Thomas Cruise and Katie Noelle Holmes. Her full name is listed as "Suri Cruise."

However, when she recently appeared as Philoclea in her school's performance of the musical comedy "Head Over Heels," she dropped the name Cruise. She was listed on the playbill as Suri Noelle, Holmes' middle name. The media has not uncovered an official, legal change of name filing, at least not yet, so it may just be a case of Suri wanting to avoid the attention caused by her father's and mother's famous last names.

Still, multiple reports have surfaced that Tom and Suri are completely estranged, with the Daily Mail alleging in April 2024 that their already fractured relationship had now become irreparable. "Suri will not have any contact with her father, despite being 18, and even if he called, she would not answer," a source claimed.

Only two sets of photos of Tom and Suri have surfaced since her parents announced they'd split in June 2012. According to Glamour, the news wire was flooded with nine pages of pics showing Tom carrying Suri in July 2012. Then, in December 2013, he was photographed at Disney World with Suri. Since then — crickets. Tom hinted he was estranged from Suri in a 2013 deposition for his defamation lawsuit against Bauer Media. 

Tom admitted to going 100 days without seeing Suri. The actor was questioned about his attorney's claim that Tom's absence was the same as a soldier away from home while fighting in Afghanistan. "I didn't hear the Afghanistan [comment], but that's what it feels like, and certainly on this last movie, it was brutal. It was brutal," he replied, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Holmes was committed to raising her daughter in an environment that was as normal as possible. "My child is the most important person to me, and her upbringing is paramount to my work right now," she told Town & Country in February 2017. "It's very important that I'm present and she has a stable, innocent childhood." Meanwhile, as far as Suri is concerned, Tom is allegedly persona non grata. "He does not exist to Katie or Suri, and his daughter does not want to rely on him for anything," a source told the Daily Mail. "She feels that she has one parent, and that is her mother."

Tom Cruise used to be Hollywood's top actor. However, he slid down the totem pole over time. That said, he still remains sixth on the list. According to The Numbers, Tom's movies have grossed a staggering $12 billion-plus worldwide, with an average of just under $275 million per flick. Tom's last film, 2023's "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One," resulted in worldwide box office takings of $566 million, plus change. Not too shabby for a sexagenarian.

However, one person who doesn't contribute to Tom's movies' earnings is his daughter, Suri Cruise. "[She] does not know her father anymore, and she has not spent time with him in a decade," a source claimed to the Daily Mail in March 2023. "She does not go to see his movies, and he has no part in her life."

Meanwhile, it's not as if Suri is averse to motion pictures — quite the opposite, in fact, although she prefers vocals to acting. When she was 16, Suri made her movie singing debut, performing a cover of "Blue Moon" for the opening credits of her mom's romcom "Alone Together," set during the pandemic." I always want the highest level of talent," Holmes told Y! Entertainment. "So I asked her! She's very, very talented. She said she would do it, and she recorded it. I let her do her thing. That's the way I direct in general: It's like, 'This is what I think we all want — go do your thing.'"

There was no sign of Tom Cruise when Suri Cruise celebrated her 18th. On the day of her milestone birthday, she was spotted walking in NYC with a gal pal holding what looked like a birthday gift bag in her hand. According to Page Six, Suri and her unnamed friend were on their way to festivities in honor of the birthday girl. A couple of days later, Suri was snapped chatting away with her mom as they sipped on coffees while walking down the street.

Meanwhile, Tom was 3,500 miles away in London, England, working on the next installment of his billion-dollar action franchise, "Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part Two." Perhaps it was just too difficult for Tom to escape filming, jump on a private jet, and visit his daughter for a few hours to help mark her special day. Or, maybe he was saving himself to go all out at Victoria Beckham's big blowout to celebrate her turning 50, two days after Suri's birthday.

Pictures of some of the party guests showed that the event comprised a who's who in the entertainment world. Marc Anthony, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Jason Statham, Eva Longoria, Salma Hayek, and Posh's fellow Spice Girls were just some of the celeb celebrants. By all accounts, Tom was the life and soul of the party. Apparently, he left guests stunned with his moves like Jagger, which included breakdancing and the splits.

The terms of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise's divorce settlement are, not surprisingly, ultra-secret. However, TMZ spoke with a source who had apparently accessed the documents, and they claimed that Tom agreed to pay $400,000 a year for child support up until Suri turned 18. Then, although the child support ended, Tom apparently agreed to pay for all of Suri's college costs. So, it's surprising — or telling — that according to the Daily Mail, Suri has purportedly not spoken or consulted with her dad about her college choices or future career plans.

"Suri is applying to schools all over the place. [Katie] really does want her to stay in New York so they can be close to each other," a source told The Mail in March 2023. "Katie takes great pride in her but is also extremely overprotective." They claimed Suri was considering pursuing a career in fashion, which is fitting given she reportedly had a wardrobe worth $3 million before she was four.

Meanwhile, Holmes is, understandably, both excited and crestfallen to see her daughter head off to college. "You want them to stay with you forever, but they're these amazing beings, and you have to do everything you can to give them what they need — and then they're going to go," she said in her chat with Town & Country in 2017. "And that's going to be very, very sad for me."