As revealed in Scene’s cover story last week, it looks like Suri’s recent bout of public temper tantrums was all down to her acting out over her parent’s looming divorce – which the six-year-old is caught square in the middle of.
And as Katie “blindsided” Tom with divorce, after five years of marriage and five days before his 50th birthday on July 3, with sources saying her move was unexpected, Tom was said to be desperate to work things out, but that the actress had already “emotionally separated” from her husband. And with Suri’s increasing involvement in Scientology said to be at the root of Katie’s decision to call it quits – just as her daughter reaches ‘auditing age’ in the controversial religion – pals say the actress had prepared her move down to every tiny detail, including filing for divorce in New York, which favours sole custody arrangements and is not sympathetic to Tom’s ‘religion’.
She wants Suri out of Scientology
Now that she’s six, Suri is eligible to start being audited by Scientology – which they call ‘security checking’ – and which involves hooking the little girl up to a device called an ‘e-meter’ that measures the skin’s galvanic reaction to a series of terrifying intrusive questions one former member described as “a way to ‘third party’ people, to find out who is saying derogatory things to others.” And in a list of 89 highly intrusive questions that an adult would struggle to answer, Suri would be subjected to probing enquiries such as, ‘Do you have a secret?’, ‘Have you ever done anything you were very much ashamed of?’, ‘Who have you made guilty?’ and ‘Have you ever felt that your parents and home weren’t good enough for you?’
“As for the ‘big bang moment’, just like it was with Nicole Kidman, there’s a theory that [Katie] observed something that shocked her out of her Xenu hypnosis; something behavioural that may have had to do with their daughter,” spilled one Hollywood-watcher of why Katie moved so fast on filing for divorce. “She also wants new staff, so she can’t be spied on anymore.”
Behind Katie’s months of careful planning
Unlike her predecessor, Nicole Kidman, insiders say that 33-year-old Katie had been planning her escape for months, as she feared that if she just walked out, that Tom and his Scientology pals would immediately cut her off from Suri, the way it’s rumoured they did with Nicole and Connor and Isabella.
“Unlike Nicole who was very much on her own, Katie has a very solid group behind her,” spilled a New York source. “She’s close to her parents – and her dad’s a lawyer – she has non-Scientologist friends she can reconnect with; plus, filing for divorce in New York as opposed to California was a very calculated move.”
Secretly renting out her own apartment in the Big Apple, Katie has been keen to establish New York as her permanent residence, with TMZ reporting, “New York courts are way more likely to grant Katie sole legal custody and control over child-rearing decisions than California courts.” And insiders say that the actress gave Tom no indication of what was to come, visiting him on the Icelandic set of his latest movie, Oblivion, with an onlooker who saw them out at dinner at Reykjavik’s Sushi Samba, spilling, “They both looked after Suri and she was getting the main attention at the table, but Tom and Katie would look at each other and smile. They seemed very happy that night.” And one well-connected Hollywood-watcher, revealed, “Her public play will be to paint him as a workaholic, taking job after job and having no time for family. This certainly helps her on the custody side of the argument.” Adding, “He was asking her to reconsider and wait another six months. She told him she’d think about it, but with support from her family, went for it anyway, and stopped taking his calls two days [before she filed].”
Tom ‘will not let her take Suri'
Although he’s publicly said he’s “saddened” by the divorce, insiders have spilled that Tom will quickly recover from his heartbreak to fight Katie every step of the way over her ‘sole custody’ bid for six-year-old Suri. Pals of the actress say Katie is dead set against having her daughter educated as a Scientologist and “believes her daughter should go to a normal school” rather than be home-schooled by Scientologists.
“This is a very aggressive move on Katie’s part,” divorce attorney, Vikki Ziegler, told Us. “Standard [filing] is joint legal [custody] with Katie as the parent of primary residence. Usually sole custody is requested when a person either wants to hurt the other parent or has evidence of a parent being unfit.”
But despite having the shady strength of his church behind him, insiders claim that Tom may be forced to concede custody defeat, in exchange for a getting Katie to sign a confidentiality agreement prohibiting her from revealing any details of their marriage in public.
“There will be a confidentiality agreement, in exchange for her freedom,” insisted one. “Katie undeniably spends more time with Suri than him, but the Church will want to keep her. Tom’s position now however is much weaker than when he and Nicole split. Katie has a lot more leverage than Tom does.”
The curse of 33
The internet was abuzz last week, with the news that all of Tom’s marriages have ended when his wives reach the age of 33. Splitting from first wife, Mimi Rogers in 1990, Nicole Kidman in 2001 and now Katie, online conspiracy theorists have also dug up the information that the Hubbard Association of Scientologists, the forerunner of the Church of Scientology, was established in Phoenix, Arizona. And Phoenix lies on the 33rd parallel. In numerology, the number 33 is the ‘Master Teacher.’
Who's next?
Amid allegations that have never died down that Katie Holmes was “chosen” by Tom’s Scientology mentor, David Miscavige, as a suitable partner, we reveal who could be next in line for the ‘dutiful wife’ treatment…
Jennifer Love Hewitt
The 33-year-old has long been looking for love, and with the failure of her movie career, might be willing to consolidate her position in Hollywood through marriage to one of its biggest stars.
Analeigh Tipton
The fact that 23-year-old Analeigh isn’t very well known, would appeal to Tom, who could then mold her into his ideal woman. A former America’s Next Top Model contestant, the American actress is another starlet in need of
a publicity boost.
Alice Eve
The 30-year-old British actress, who has popped up in Entourage, SATC 2 and Men In Black III, is currently seeking a way to stand out from the rest of the current crop of Hollywood blonds – and a starring role on Tom’s arm might be it.
Rooney Mara
Having proved she can easily fall under the spell of an older man, after becoming a doe-eyed protégé of her Girl With The Dragon Tattoo director, David Fincher, Rooney could be ripe marriage material – although her rich family doesn’t need the money.
