TomKat split could hurt Tom

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This article was published 02/07/2012 (4934 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LOS ANGELES — When Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes first got together, he jumped on a couch, she gushed girlishly, and many of their fans said, “Huh?”

Their split could cause just as much drama.

Not only are the images of two Hollywood stars at stake, so is the future of six-year-old Suri, with some speculating that Holmes’ decision to file for divorce in New York might mean she’s seeking sole custody of their daughter.

Ultimately, Cruise may have the most to lose.

“There’s no question this divorce is going to hurt his public image,” said Dorie Clark, author of the forthcoming Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future.

“His brand was already tarnished significantly when he first got together with Holmes five years ago and was infamously jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch, and shortly afterward the videos of him praising Scientology were leaked,” she continued.

“This divorce is another opportunity for questions to be raised about his personal life, his religious beliefs — which many consider outside the mainstream — and that’s not what a box-office star really wants.”

California divorce attorney Michael Kelly, who is not involved with the Cruise-Holmes case, called Holmes’ East Coast filing “a tactical move” that signifies “there will be an attempt to gain an advantage.”

New York’s comparative-fault divorce laws could be advantageous for Holmes, he said. The couple lived in Los Angeles.

Cruise and Holmes married in 2006 after a whirlwind love affair. He proposed at the Eiffel Tower. Their wedding was held at a 15th-century Italian castle.

She filed for divorce Thursday, ending her first marriage. This will be Cruise’s third divorce. He was previously married to actresses Mimi Rogers and Nicole Kidman, with whom he has two children.

Cruise showed up alone at the recent Los Angeles and London premières of his latest film, Rock of Ages. Holmes also was absent earlier this month when Cruise received the Friars Club Entertainment Icon Award in New York. But he did bring Suri with him.

“Divorce will actually help Katie Holmes’ brand,” Clark said. “More people are going to be thinking about her and aware of her. This is generating a lot of sympathy and interest from people.”

“Tom Cruise’s brand has always been the dynamic, likable hero — the Mission Impossible star that you’re rooting for — and it becomes harder for the public to get behind someone as a hero and want to go to the box office and cheer them on when there are serious questions about what kind of husband and father he is,” Clark said.

Holmes’ attorney, Jonathan Wolfe, said Friday that “Katie’s primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter’s best interest.”

 

— The Associated Press